Nightwind School of Magic Two
by Lady Sabine of Macayhill
Summary: Sequel to Nightwind School of Magic. Please read that one first or this won't make sense. The Phoenix Club fight in the war against Voldemort, and after his supposed defeat, the second Phoenix Club, consisting of Harry Potter and his friends, attend Nightwind School and deal with the fact that Voldemort isn't quite dead as everyone would like to believe. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Here is the sequel to my fic _Nightwind School of Magic_. It will start out with a handful of chapters devoted to the Phoenix Club fighting in the the war and then move on to Harry Potter's childhood and his years at school with his friends.

Disclaimer for entire fic: The Harry Potter universe belongs to fantastic author J.K. Rowling and I am merely playing in it.

In between shooting off spells at Death Eaters, James shouted to Lily, "Hey, Lils, will you marry me?"

Lily fired off a Blasting Curse at Death Eater, then shouted back, "Yes, I will, but is it really the time to propose to me?"

James Stunned a Death Eater that was about to curse Dylan, then replied, "If Robin Hood proposed to Maid Marian in the middle of a battle, why can't I?"

"I knew I shouldn't have shown you Disney's _Robin Hood_ when you visited two summers ago," Lily groaned, then ducked a spell and hit the Death Eater that had cast it with a Cutting Curse that Severus had invented and taught his friends.

By this point, it was clear that the Death Eaters were losing. The three that were still relatively unscathed Disapparated away, leaving their seriously injured or dead colleagues behind. Nicole, who was now a qualified Mediwitch and in training to become a certified Healer, cast healing spells on the members of the Order that were injured, and then sent them on to St. Mungo's for a more in-depth healing. She then cast rudimentary healing spells on the injured Death Eaters (after James, Lily, Dylan, and Yuki had Stunned them first) so that they wouldn't die, and they were transported to the Ministry holding cells for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to deal with.

James pulled out a small box from his pocket. "Lily, I actually was planning on proposing to you tonight, during dinner, but the heat of battle and everything...Anyway, you said yes, so here's your ring." He took out a gold band that was set with a diamond and a ruby on either side and slid it on Lily's left ring finger.

"Congrats, mate," said Sirius, grinning. "James, I'd better be best man at your wedding."

"Of course, you're my best friend," said James. "And the other guys in the Phoenix Club can be groomsmen."

Lily looked around at the group and spotted Claire. Feeling somewhat glad that she had been part of the fight (since it meant that Lily wouldn't have to find her later), Lily said, "Claire, since you are my best female friend in our group, I want you as maid of honor. The others will be bridesmaids."

"But what about your sister Petunia?" Claire asked. "Shouldn't she also be part of your wedding party?"

"Well, she's already married, so she can't exactly be a bridesmaid," Lily said. "I guess I could have her as matron of honor, though she probably won't like being referred to as a 'matron', especially since she hasn't had a baby yet."

The group then Apparated to Headquarters so that they could report. Thankfully it had been a battle they had won, and thanks to the fact that Lucius Malfoy had decided to become a spy in the Death Eater ranks, the Order had prior knowledge and had been able to thwart Voldemort's plans. Of course, only a select circle knew about Lucius's status, namely Professor Dumbledore, Headmistress Nakamura and Deputy Headmaster Ihejirika, Narcissa, and the Phoenix Club (mainly because Lucius had told Sirius, who in turn told his friends after swearing them to secrecy about it.)

Later that day, the Phoenix Club decided to have dinner together to celebrate James and Lily's engagement, the first one in their group of friends. "What are you going to name your first kid?" Marshall asked.

"Definitely not Elvendork," Lily said, shooting James a severe look. "I know the story of what happened with you and Sirius when you were chasing Death Eaters and had a run-in with some policemen last week."

"But Elvendork is a gender neutral name!" James protested, with Sirius nodding in agreement.

"I don't care, it's a stupid name," said Lily firmly. "Anyway, it's too soon to really think about baby names, Marshall, since we're only just engaged. But I suppose if James and I have a daughter, we'll continue my family tradition of giving girls flower names."

Once dinner was over, Lily and James left so that they could tell Lily's family about the engagement, and also discreetly strengthen the protection spells they had put on the two homes. Since they were fighting in the Order, it was highly likely that the Death Eaters would target Lily's Muggle relatives, so the two wanted to make sure they were as well protected as possible. Well, the two probably didn't have to do much strengthening on Petunia and Tau's home, since as they were also Makena's relatives, she had visited them last week and put up protection spells.

The next day, there was another battle against the Death Eaters, and this time Voldemort was involved. James and Lily narrowly escaped death, and so did Frank and Alice Longbottom, Aurors who were also part of the Order and had gotten married three months ago. Claire, however, was seriously injured in the battle, and had to be transported to St. Mungo's after Nicole had done some basic healing on her. Severus went with Claire, looking very panicky.

Once she was pronounced stable and Severus was allowed to sit with her, he broke down in tears. "I almost lost you today, Claire."

"Sev, I knew that fighting Voldemort was dangerous," she said. "I hope you're not asking me to quit the Order and stop fighting him."

Severus shook his head. "I know that it's not you. While I would like it if you did stop fighting, you would never do so, and anyway, that's not the person I fell in love with." He wiped his eyes, then continued, "I wasn't planning on asking you this for awhile yet, but I can't bear the thought of life without you. So, will you marry me? I don't have a proper ring yet, but will this do until I can go out tomorrow and buy one?" He pulled off a button from the cuff of his shirt and transfigured it into a golden-colored ring set with an aquamarine, Claire's birthstone.

"Yes, to the proposal and the ring," said Claire, smiling up at him. "In fact, don't get a new ring. This one will be more meaningful, Sev. And whenever the transfiguration wears off, we can always redo it."

"If you're sure, Claire," said Severus, bending over to kiss her. "Once you're well, I want to marry you."

"Severus!" Claire exclaimed. "What's the big rush? Besides, I'm supposed to be maid of honor at Lily's wedding and I can't very well do that if I'm married before her."

"She can pick one of our other friends to be bridesmaid," Severus said. "I just want to spend as much time as I can with you. With the war going on, there's not much point in putting things off. We love each other, and want to spend the rest of our lives together."

"But what do you plan on doing, elope? Because how else do you think we can get married in a week's time? I certainly can't plan a wedding in that time frame. And if we elope, our friends and family will never forgive us."

"We can get properly married in that time frame," Severus said. "I'll speak to Headmistress Nakamura about getting Portkeys so we can be married in Windmere. That way my mother and your parents and brother can attend. You tell the other girls, who will no doubt be your bridesmaids, what wedding dress you want, what the bridesmaid dresses should look like, and how you want Windmere Inn to be decorated for the reception. They'll handle those details. I'll get appropriate wedding robes and dress robes for the best man and groomsmen, and have Remus, whom I'm asking to be my best man, set up the bachelor party. Who do you want officiating the ceremony?"

Claire thought for a moment, then said, "Reverend van Herten. I'm not particularly religious, but I'm more Protestant than any other religion. Fine, but could change the wedding to two week's time instead? That will allow me to attend a dress fitting once I'm well, and we'll ask Professor Dumbledore to let the two of us stay out of any Order missions until after our wedding and honeymoon."

"All right then," said Severus. "I'll speak to Professor Dumbledore tomorrow and get started on the arrangements." He asked a passing Mediwitch for some parchment, ink, and a quill, and once the requested items arrived, gave them to Claire so she could write down how she wanted the wedding party and reception to look.

When visiting hours ended, she was done writing, and Severus left with the notes. The rest of the Phoenix Club were surprised to hear of Severus's desire to get married as soon as possible, but supported him. "After what happened today, I'm not surprised you want to spend as much time as you can with Claire," said Remus. "Sure, I'll be your best man, and help with the planning."

Lily was slightly put out that Claire would no longer be her maid of honor, but accepted the role of being Claire's maid of honor. She took the notes and went off to talk with their friends that were going to be bridesmaids so they could put Claire's wishes into action.

Author's Note: The run-in that Sirius and James had with a couple of Muggle police officers while chasing Death Eaters is from a short story that J.K. Rowling wrote for a charity auction, functioning as a prequel to the Harry Potter books. In it, the police officers that stop Sirius and James for speeding (while on Sirius's motorbike) ask the two for their names. James and Sirius rattle off a few random names, ending with Elvendork, which they point out is gender neutral, before apparently catching on that the polices wanted their names, not names in general.


	2. Chapter 2

Severus and Claire's wedding went off very well. The two exchanged vows, as the bridesmaids, groomsmen, their families, and the staff at Nightwind School looked on. Six-year old Dora Tonks, the only young girl that they knew well, was the flower girl. Reverend van Herten was beaming as she blessed the couple and pronounced that Severus could now kiss the bride. The Protestant chapel in the town was decorated with lovely white and pale gold roses, and all the bridesmaids wore pale gold dresses, with Lily, as the maid of honor, having a darker gold border around hers.

After the ceremony, the group went to the Windmere Inn for the reception. The food was delicious, everyone toasted the couple with glasses of wine or mead, and the bridemaids and groomsmen told some stories about the Phoenix Club and Severus and Claire's relationship. After some dancing and the cutting on the cake, Claire stood up to toss the bouquet. All the unmarried women (except for Lily, who stayed out of it due to the fact she was engaged) gathered together and Claire, standing on the podium, turned her back to them. She threw her bouquet of white roses and silver lilies over her shoulder, and after some jostling, Amina ended up catching it.

Everyone congratulated Amina and then Claire sat down so that Severus could do the new tradition of the groom tossing the garter to the unmarried men. For this one, James stayed out of it. As the other guys gathered, Severus made note of where Remus was standing. Since Amina had caught the bouquet, it was only fair for Remus to catch the garter, as the two were in a serious relationship.

After Remus had caught the garter, there was quite a bit of teasing from the others. Sirius said, "Well, it looks like you'll be the next one to be leg-shackled, Remus, besides James of course."

"What about you?" Remus shot back. "When are you going to ask Fiona to marry you? You've shown no inkling of wanting to break up with her."

Fiona smiled sweetly. "Yes, Sirius, when are you going to propose to me? I had Katya do a reading for me last week, and she Saw that the two of us would be married one day and have at least two kids."

"Don't worry, I'll propose to you someday," Sirius replied. "It's just that with the war and everything..."

"Dear, you know either one of us could die any day. That's why Sev proposed to Claire when he did and why they had a wedding as soon as possible."

"I'll propose once I get a ring," Sirius said. "Okay?"

Fiona accepted that and dropped the subject. Amina set down the bouquet, adjusted her gold head scarf, which had gotten a bit crooked during the jostling for the bouquet, and took Remus to one side. "So, are we going to follow the tradition, since we caught the bouquet and garter? And don't you dare say that you're not suitable for me because you're a werewolf, Remus. We've been dating for the past three years and four months."

"I would love to, but how would I ever be able to properly support us?" Remus asked. "Britain isn't as accepting of werewolves like some other countries, thanks for Greyback and his handful of followers. I would have difficulty holding down a job. As it is, our friends are supporting me while I fight in the Order."

"Professor Dupond plans on retiring within the next five years," Amina pointed out. "By then, the war should be over, if my last prophetic dream comes true. You're great at teaching others, considering the tutoring you've done for younger students, and you have a Mastery in Defense. So you can take over as the third year Defense teacher once he's retired."

"So you're saying that after the war, we move to Windmere and I teach at Nightwind School," said Remus. "Well, that's a good idea. I'd be accepted there, be able to something I enjoy, and my time at school were the best years of my life."

"See?" said Amina, beaming. "Now, let's have one last dance before the reception is over."

When Claire and Severus returned from their honeymoon two weeks later, Sirius and Fiona had gotten engaged, and so had Amina and Remus. Meanwhile, Lily and James had set a wedding date of April 10th, which was five months away, and their respective parents got together to help plan the wedding.

The war against Voldemort got worse. By this point, the Ministry had authorized the use of Unforgivable Curses for Aurors and Hit Wizards when they were dealing with Death Eaters. Alastor Moody, a respected Auror and a member of the Order, didn't particularly like this, since he felt that it was too much like stooping to the level of the enemy, and those Aurors that were also part of the Order agreed with him.

By the summer came around, the engaged couples had gotten married, and Yun and Makena were engaged. Katya actually eloped with Regulus shortly after he had graduated and joined the Order as well, though it was only an elopement in the sense that they had didn't actually have a wedding and invited all their friends to attend the Romany-style ceremony on September 12th, followed by a celebratory dinner, the day before.

"Katya, why did you have to cheat us out a proper wedding?" Lily complained during the dinner. "Even Sev and Claire had a nice wedding despite the fact that they rushed into a marriage."

"I just wasn't in the mood to have some drawn-out ceremony," Katya said. "And Reg just wanted to get married to me as soon as possible, since after his first Order mission, he was afraid that he or I could die before we could be married. You're lucky that we didn't do an outright elopement and made sure that all our friends were present for the quick ceremony, and got my father, who qualifies as a Romany elder, to officiate."

"It would have taken us ages to forgive you, if ever, if you two had actually eloped," Fiona said with a slight laugh. "And at least you had Sirius be the best man, Reg, and your cousin Petra as your bridesmaid for the ceremony, Katya."

Two months later, Bridget and Ethan unfortunately died while on an Order mission. Fiona was inconsolable for days following her sister's death, and the rest of the Dragon Club were upset and mourned deeply. Caleb, who had been Ethan's best friend in the group, promptly quit the Order right after the funeral and returned to the United States, saying that he couldn't deal with it at the moment and needed time to recover. Also, Eileen Prince died during a Death Eater attack on Diagon Alley, which hit Severus the hardest, but also upset the others in the Phoenix and Dragon Clubs, who had known and liked her. Sirius and Regulus were almost as sad as Severus, considering that Eileen Prince had been a mother to them after they had been disowned.

There was one spot of good news, however. Fiona was pregnant, and Sirius promised that if they had a girl, her middle name would be after Bridget. This cheered Fiona up slightly, enough that she pulled herself together for Sirius's and the unborn child's sake and went on with her life. Two months after that, Lily, Katya, Claire, and Alice Longbottom all announced that they were pregnant too. Amina exchanged knowing looks with Remus, the only other person in the Phoenix Club that knew the complete contents of the first prophetic dream she had regarding Voldemort's defeat. The others had only known the basics, but not the identity of the parents of the children with the potential to defeat Voldemort, besides the Longbottoms.

On April 4th, Fiona gave birth to a daughter named Arista Bridget. A few days later, there was a short christening ceremony, where James and Lily and Regulus and Katya were named as joint godparents (due to the war, it would be better to have backup in case something happened to one of the godparents.) Later on, at the celebratory lunch following the christening, Andromeda Tonks started laughing.

"What's so funny, Andi?" asked Sirius.

"What you named your daughter!" Andromeda answered between giggles.

"Arista isn't a funny name!" Sirius protested indignantly. "It's a very lovely name."

"Yes, but there's more," Andromeda said. "When you heard Dora's middle name, you chided me for following the Black tradition of naming our children after stars and constellations, and did the same to Cissy when she said she was naming a son 'Draco.' Then you said that you had no intention of doing the same thing, not even for a middle name, unless you felt like giving Reg a namesake."

"So?" asked Sirius, looking annoyed. "What's your point, Andi?"

At that, Fiona started laughing. "I understand what she's getting at. Sirius, you really should have paid better attention in Astronomy, considering that it was the one exam you failed during the Basic Levels. You know the constellation Virgo? Well, the brightest star in it is Spica, which also goes by the name Arista!"

A dumbfounded look came to Sirius's face as he stared first at his wife, then at his cousin. Once he had fully processed the information, it changed to a look of chagrin. "Damn!" he swore. "I said I wasn't going to follow Black tradition and I unknowingly end up doing so. Is it too late to change my daughter's name?"

"Sirius Orion Black, you will do no such thing!" snapped Fiona. "Arista is a pretty name, and it was already difficult enough for us to decide on a first name that we both liked. I'm not having another long discussion with you about an alternate name."

"But I don't want to follow the Black tradition," Sirius protested.

"Sirius, I don't want to go through the hassle and fees to get our daughter's birth certificate and official records changed," said Fiona. "Her name stays as it is. If you try to change it, then you can sleep on the couch tonight, and get up to feed Arista or change her nappy every time she wakes up during the night."

"Fine," said Sirius with a sigh. "Arista is still a nice name, even if it is also a name for a star."

A week after that, the Longbottoms, Princes, Potters, and the other Black couple were called in for a private meeting with Dumbledore. "A month ago, I interviewed a witch named Sibyll Trelawney for the post of Divination teacher at Hogwarts," he said. "Since she is the great-great-granddaughter of the celebrated seer Cassandra Trelawney, I had agreed to meet her, though at the time, I wasn't sure if Divination should still be a subject taught at Hogwarts, considering how few people there are that have the Sight. Anyway, Ms. Trelawney didn't seem to have inherited her ancestor's gifts, so I kindly told her that her services weren't needed. However, right after that, she went into a Trance and said a genuine prophecy, though she has no memory of it."

"I assume that this prophecy has something to do with us," said Claire.

"That is correct, Mrs. Nightwind-Prince," said Professor Dumbledore. He proceeded to tell them the contents of the prophecy. "Since the prophecy states that a child born 'as the seven month comes to a close' and to parents that have 'thrice defied the Dark Lord', it seems that any one of your children could fit."

"Well, Amina did say that her prophetic dream showed her two girls and two boys that had the potential to defeat Voldemort," said Lily with a sigh. "She only told us that you, Frank and Alice, were one of the set of parents. She didn't say who the other parents were, probably because at the time of the dream, we were only in second year and not thinking at all about dating, much less getting married. I suppose she didn't want any of us to feel compelled to get together just because a prophetic dream said so."

"In any case, the eight of you are in great danger," Dumbledore continued. "Lucius Malfoy had been commanded by Voldemort to spy on the interview. While he only told Voldemort the first part of the prophecy, claiming that he had been caught before he could overhear the rest, it is still enough for you to be targeted. Voldemort no doubt had worked out that you are all due to have your children at the end of July, and you have all faced him in battle three times and survived. I think he will decide to ignore you, Frank and Alice, for the time being, since you are both pureblood and he may feel that someone who is a halfblood like him would be more likely to possibly defeat him."

Frank and Alice nodded at that. Professor Dumbledore went on, "The same would apply to you, Regulus and Katya. However, Lily, as you are Muggleborn, he would want to target your son. And Severus, even if he assumes that you are pureblood due to taking on your mother's last name, well, you are a Nightwind, Claire. You are descended from the founders of a school that denied him admission after meeting him. Voldemort no doubt hates Nightwind School for that, and would have no doubt targeted you even if you weren't carrying one of the potential prophecy children. In any case, I would suggest that you all go into hiding. I know that you aren't involved in any Order missions due to your pregnancies, but he can still go after you at your homes."

"We'll figure something out," said Katya. The four couples then thanked Professor Dumbledore for telling them about the prophecy and warning them and returned to their respective homes to discuss what they would do.

Author's Note: When planning out the sequel, I thought that Arista would be a nice name to give Sirius and Fiona's daughter. After looking up the name, I found out that not only was it the name of one of Ariel's sisters in Disney's _A Little Mermaid_ (I had forgotten that, since it's been awhile since I saw the movie), but it was also an alternate name for the star Spica in the Virgo constellation. Considering that I wrote Sirius as saying that he would never name any of his children after a star or constellation, I thought it would deliciously ironic to have him do just that without knowing it, and so kept the name.


	3. Chapter 3

On June 5th, Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy had a son, whom they named Draco as planned. The named their best friends, Mei-Hua Huang (Yun's sister) and Travis Grayson as godparents. Two weeks after that, on June 23rd, Petunia and Tau Okoro had their first child, a daughter they named Juniper, June for short, following the Evans tradition of naming girls after flowers or plants. A few days after her birth, her pacifier flew to her hand. A very surprised Petunia then picked up the pacifier and stuck it in her daughter's mouth. She then wrote two notes describing the incident and sent it to Lily and Makena.

The next day, Makena dropped by for a visit, since Lily couldn't because of the fact that she was due in three weeks. "Hello, Petunia. Has June done anything else since the incident you notified me about yesterday?"

Petunia shook her head. "That was the only odd thing she's done so far. So do you think June might be a witch?"

"After I got your letter, I contacted Headmistress Nakamura and she kindly looked in the book the school has that records the births of all magical children. June's name was in it, so that means she is a witch and will get an acceptance letter to Nightwind School one day. And one to Hogwarts too, of course, since she was born in Britain."

"Well, Tau and I said last night that if June did turn out to be a witch, we were sending her to Nightwind School. Er, since we know about the wizarding world, do you think it'd be all right if we had her attend the primary school that's in Windmere once she's old enough to start school? That way June would get more exposure to the wizarding world instead of suddenly being dropped into it when she's eleven. Yes, she'd have prior knowledge about it like Lily did, but it's still not same as being raised at least partially in it."

Makena looked surprised. "Well, June would be the first Muggleborn to attend Windmere Primary School, since normally Muggleborn students find out when they're old enough to attend a magical school. But I'm sure there would be no problems with her attending. I can help you make the arrangements once she's old enough to start; five or six years old, I believe is the usual age."

"Thank you, Makena," said Petunia. "How is Lily? Her last letter to me said she and James have to go into hiding, because Lord Moldywart or whatever his name is apparently wants to target them and their soon-to-be-born child."

Makena snickered. "Lord Moldywart. That's quite funny. I'll have to remember to tell the others that, since they'll get a good laugh out of it. Anyway, Lily is fine, other than the fact that she can't wait to get her pregnancy over with. She's not too thrilled about having to go into hiding, either, but she understands that it's necessary. I told her about Headmistress Nakamura confirming that June is a witch. Lily of course is quite thrilled with that, and says that she's going to be planning playdates with her child and niece once the war's over. And see to it that June becomes friends with the others born in the same year."

"Oh good," Petunia said with a smile. "That means June will have her own group of friends by the time she starts Nightwind School. More tea, Makena?"

Makena shook her head. "Thank you, but I've got an Order meeting to attend. And I also have to talk Nomusa out of joining. Since she just graduated, she wants to fight in the war, but I'd rather she just focus on attaining her Healer certification. What was the point of taking all those Healing classes in sixth and seventh year if she's not going to become a certified Healer, or at least a Mediwitch? And if she does have to be part of the Order, I'd rather she do what Nicole does, which is primarily heal the other members after battles and dangerous missions and not take part in fighting."

"Musa is her own person," Petunia pointed out. "No matter how much we want to, we can't protect our little sisters forever."

"I know," Makena said with a sigh. "Well, it was lovely visiting you and getting to see June. Tell Tau that I said hello and I hope to you soon."

Petunia said she would and saw her sister-in-law out the door.

* * *

On July 29th, at twenty-three minutes past ten, Katya gave birth to a baby girl that she and Regulus named Stella Isabelle. Though they didn't exactly follow the Black tradition, they still hinted at it, since Stella meant 'star'. Several hours later, Alice Longbottom went into labor and shortly after noon on July 30th, gave birth to a son that she and Frank named Neville Frank. Hours after that, Lily Potter went into labor and at six in the morning on July 31st gave birth to a son named Harry James. Finally, later that day, at five minutes to midnight, Claire had a daughter named Eileen Hua-Xing, after both grandmothers.

Katya and Regulus named Nicole and Kurt and Chris and Adriana (the latter two having just recently gotten married) as the joint godparents. Lily and James chose Severus and Claire and Fiona and Sirius to be godparents to Harry. Severus and Claire, after some deliberation, decided on Amina and Remus and Dylan and Yuki (who had recently gotten engaged) to be godparents to Eileen.

Two weeks after Neville's birth, the Longbottoms moved to Windmere, since it was probably the safest place for them to be. Frank and Alice had quit the Auror force, and were planning alternate careers. In Frank's case, he was going to become the fifth-year Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. The previous one, Professor Elise Hardwood-Dumas, was over a hundred and planned to retire after the next school year. Therefore, per the usual practice at Nightwind School, Frank was going to act as a student teacher with Professor Hardwood overseeing him for the 1980 to 1981 school year and then take over as the regular teacher after that. Alice planned to spend the next couple of years being a homemaker and then go on to teach at the primary school.

Claire and Severus ended up doing the exact same thing. In Severus's case, he was going to take over as the fifth-year Potions teacher once Professor Erik Hardwood (husband of Professor Hardwood-Dumas) retired. Claire intended to take on the post as a school Healer in a few years, once Eileen was older, since she had taken Healing classes during school and had recently been certified.

Meanwhile, the Potters put their house in Godric's Hollow under the Fidelius Charm, and Regulus and Katya did the same with their house, which was down the street. For the time being, the two couples decided that the safest thing to do was have each other be the Secret-Keeper. At first, both of them had wanted to have Sirius and Fiona be the Secret-Keepers, but then realized that it would put them and their daughter Arista in more danger.

At the end of August, Dylan and Yuki got married. Due to their mutual love of science fiction, they had decided to go with that theme for their wedding. Since the _Star Wars_ movie had been released in 1977 and the sequel, _The Empire Strikes Back_, had been released earlier that year, the two decided to dress up as Princess Leia and Han Solo. The chapel they had decorated to look like the bridge of the starship _Enterprise_ from the television show _Star Trek_, and got their friends to dress up as characters from _Doctor Who_, complete with all four Doctors and his companions.

"Do you really have to mash up three different science fiction universes?" James asked.

"We love the whole science fiction genre," Dylan responded, "so we want to incorporate our favorite series in our wedding. You should be thankful that we're only including three for the ceremony. We could have added something to represent the _Witch World_ series by Andre Norton or the _Dragonriders of Pern_ series by Anne McCaffrey."

At the conclusion of the ceremony (the two had said their vows in Klingon, followed by an English translation for the benefit of the guests that didn't understand the language), after the kiss, Yuki said, "I love you, Dylan."

Dylan, a mischievous grin on his face, replied, "I know," like Han Solo had done in _Empire Strikes Back_ after Leia had confessed her love to him.

Since their friends had gone to see the movie with them, they understood the reference and laughed over that as Yuki kissed Dylan again. The guests and wedding party then went to the Windmere Inn for the reception, which had been decorated as how the dining hall of a weyr was described in the _Dragonriders of Pern_ series. The only thing traditional was the cutting of the cake and the throwing of the bouquet, which Nicole ended up catching.

Author's Note: Since both Dylan and Yuki have Muggle grandparents and love science fiction, I decided that they would have a rather nerdy/geeky kind of wedding, and include the sci-fi universes that they enjoy. I know that there are more than four Doctors (I am a Whovian, in addition to being a Potterhead), but at the time of wedding, which took place in 1980, there were only four. I would have included the wedding vows, but while I love _Star Trek_, I unfortunately am not the kind of Trekker/Trekkie that happens to speak Klingon.


	4. Chapter 4

Things were not going well for the Order. Fabian and Gideon Prewett had been killed, and so had Marlene McKinnon and her family and Edgar Bones and his family. Caradoc Dearborn disappeared and was presumed to have been killed as well, but as no body was ever found, it couldn't be confirmed. Kurt narrowly escaped death in one battle, and that evening, his friends quite forcefully talked him into resigning from the Order and entering a seminary so that he could fulfill his calling to be a rabbi. They pointed out that he had already put his plans on hold for almost two years in order to help them fight Voldemort, and they didn't want him to die before achieving his calling/dream.

Charlus and Dorea Potter, who were getting rather advanced in years, unfortunately also died, but with them passing away peacefully in their sleep. James inherited the family estate and all the money they hadn't already given their son and daughter-in-law. The Phoenix Club mourned their passing, and Lily and James decided that if they had another child, they would name him or her Charlotte Dorea or Charlus Dorian.

Harry and Stella had their first birthday party, which was held together (though their birthdays were two days apart), and as many of their 'aunts' and 'uncles' that could attended. The two played with Draco, Arista, and June, or at least as much as a group of one-year olds could actually play. Harry and Stella got their first brooms, toy ones that Sirius and Fiona had given them (though as Sirius had Order business, only Fiona and Arista were present to give the gifts.) Petunia and Tau and the rest of the Phoenix Club gave (or sent, in the cases of the ones that couldn't attend the party) Harry and Stella various stuffed animals or picture books.

Meanwhile, Voldemort was figuring out what he had to do in regards to the prophecy. At the moment, he wasn't interested in Stella Black and Eileen Prince-Nightwind, since he didn't really think a witch would be able to take him down. While he valued Bellatrix Lestrange and Alecto Carrow, and in fact the former was one of his trusted Death Eaters and fanatically devoted to him, they were exceptions to his general views towards woman. After all, hadn't his own mother been weak, choosing to die after giving birth to her son, rather than using her magic to live?

To be on the safe side, Voldemort did plan on killing the two girls that could fit the prophecy and their parents later on (especially Eileen and her mother, since they were descendents of the founders of Nightwind School), but his main focus was currently on Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter. After much deliberation, Voldemort decided that he would kill Harry Potter first. The Potter brat was a halfblood, after all, and also easier to get at than the Longbottom boy. Lucius Malfoy had told Voldemort that the Longbottoms had moved to Windmere and Frank Longbottom was planning to be a teacher at Nightwind School. As Voldemort had no idea where the school was, except that it was on a hidden and Unplottable island somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, and the Portkeys from the island were spelled to keep unauthorized people from using them, there was no way he was going to get there.

He paced around the room, wondering what he could do to be able to kill the Potter brat. From what Lucius Malfoy had told him, the Potters had gone into hiding under the Fidelius Charm, so he couldn't target them at their home, unless he got the information from their Secret-Keeper. The only problem with that was the Secret-Keeper was Regulus Black, father of Stella Black, and the Blacks were in hiding as well, with James Potter as their Secret-Keeper. So quite frankly, unless Voldemort managed to draw the Potters out of their home, there was no way he could kill Harry Potter.

"This is so frustrating!" Voldemort growled. By this point, all he wanted was to get his hands on the Potter brat and kill him so that the prophecy couldn't be fulfilled. He honestly couldn't care about the parents at the moment, since Harry Potter was the main focus. Besides, he could always kill Lily and James Potter at a later date, and it would be very amusing to see them mourn the loss of their child.

In October, Voldemort finally came up with a plan. He was able to ambush one of the Potters' friends, Dylan O'Hagan, and put the Imperius Curse on him. After that, an Imperiused Dylan suggested that it would be safer for the Potters to move to Windmere, where Voldemort wouldn't be able to get to them, and James could take on the post of Transfiguration teacher when Professor Wilmott retired in a few years. Lily and James thought it was a splendid idea, and Dylan said that he would meet them on Halloween, at nine o'clock in the evening, on the outskirts of Godric's Hollow, with a Portkey that would take them to Windmere.

On the appointed date, Voldemort called all the Death Eaters to him. "Today is the day that I will kill that blasted Potter brat and prevent him from ever growing up to kill me! Later on, we can kill the others if need be, but the one most likely to eventually defeat me will be out of picture!"

Lucius Malfoy paled when he heard this, but quickly assumed a neutral expression. He was grateful that they all had to wear masks at meetings, or no doubt someone would have seen him turn pale and wonder what was the matter with him. "My lord, that is good news," he said in a falsely bright tone. "But how do you plan on achieving this wondrous deed? The Potters are in hiding under the Fidelius Charm and you do not know the location."

"I do know that they are living somewhere in Godric's Hollow," Voldemort replied. "And I have implemented a plan to draw them out. Two weeks ago, I was able to ambush one of their friends, one Dylan O'Hagan. I put him under the Imperius Curse, and had him suggest to the Potters that they would be safer if they lived in the town of Windmere, which is associated with Nightwind School. The Potters thought it was a good idea, and they are supposed to meet with their friend on the outskirts of Godric's Hollow at nine o'clock, which is in a half hour from now, to use the Portkey. Instead, I will be there, and will kill Harry Potter! Lily and James Potter I shall let live for the time being, as it will be quite amusing to see them suffer over their son's death. As for Dylan O'Hagan, I shall kill him after I have disposed of the Potter brat, since I will have no more need of him."

"That is an excellent plan, my lord," said Bellatrix. "Do you not want me with you when you kill the Potter brat?"

"No, I shall do this alone," Voldemort snapped. "Now, if you will excuse me, I shall go leave to set up the ambush on the Potters. You are all dismissed."

As soon as Voldemort had gone, Lucius Malfoy Apparated home. He had no idea as to the exact location of the Potter home, since as a spy in the Death Eater ranks, he'd rather not know anything that he wasn't asked by the Order to tell Voldemort. However, his wife knew, since she wasn't a spy, and after he quickly explained what had happened at the meeting, Narcissa immediately contacted the Potters. Unfortunately, they apparently had just set out for the meeting place, so she was unable to reach them. In desperation, Lucius Apparated to Dylan and Yuki's home so that Yuki could at least be told about her husband being under the Imperius Curse and keep Dylan from getting killed. Meanwhile, Narcissa spoke to Regulus and Katya, so they could at least summon as many Order members as they could to go to the meeting place.

However, things didn't quite go as planned. While Katya thought of sending a message via Patronus to Lily and James (a method that Professor Dumbledore and Headmistress Nakamura had come up with to send messages), by the time it reached the Potters, they had arrived at the meeting place. Once they heard it, the two attempted to Apparate away, but couldn't due to the Anti-Appariation wards that Voldemort had placed on the field.

"So, how did your friends know of this and tried to warn you?" Voldemort demanded as he walked up to the Potters.

"Dylan was able to throw off the Imperius Curse you put on him and told his wife everything," James lied, so that Lucius's status as spy wouldn't be uncovered. "She then tried to contact us, but as we'd already left the house, she couldn't warn us and instead told Regulus and Katya Black, who sent the warning."

"Pity," said Voldemort. "Well, the warning came too late, and I am going to kill your son! Hand him to me!"

"Never!" snarled James, moving to stand in front of Lily. "I'd rather die first."

"That can be arranged," sneered Voldemort, deciding that if that was what James wanted, he might as well get it. In any case, since the Order was no doubt alerted, it probably would be best to kill the Potter brat as soon as possible, before they arrived. "_Avada Kedavra_!" A bolt of green light shot out of Voldemort's wand and hit James squarely in the chest. He collapsed to the ground, dead.

"NO!" Lily screamed, while Harry, who was clutched in her arms, began crying.

Voldemort indulged in evil laughter for a few seconds, then snapped, "Hand over the boy, you stupid girl, or you'll die like your worthless husband!"

"My husband wasn't worthless, and I'm never giving you my son!" Lily snapped, a look of fierce protectiveness on her face.

"I am getting your son and killing him!" snarled Voldemort. "Give him to me, you foolish girl!"

"No! You are not getting Harry! Take me instead, if you must, but you are never getting him!"

In the distance, faint cracks could be heard, signifying that there were people Apparating into Godric's Hollow. Voldemort cursed, then shouted, "Stand aside and let me have the boy!"

"No!" shouted Lily defiantly, placing her son in the carrier behind her legs and standing protectively in front of him. She silently activated an ancient spell that Headmistress Nakamura had discovered, one that could potentially protect a person from death, but required the sacrifice of someone close to him or her.

Witches and wizards could be seen running towards the field. Voldemort gave up trying to get Lily to stand aside and instead hit her with the Killing Curse. He then removed the Anti-Appariation Ward, so that he could Disapparate out of there once he killed the Potter brat. As the witches and wizards got closer, he pointed his wand at the crying Harry Potter in his carrier, and said, "_Avada Kedavra_."

However, things didn't work out as planned. The jet of green light hit the toddler on his forehead, but incredibly, it somehow didn't kill him and instead rebounded on Voldemort. There was a blast, which hit a nearby tree and destroyed several branches and singed the trunk. Thanks to the steps that he had taken, Voldemort didn't die, but he found himself without a proper body. The spirit part of him managed to possess a nearby squirrel, who picked up his fallen wand and scampered away.

The members of the Order skid to a halt once they reached the field. They had seen the green light of the Killing Curse, so they knew that the Potters were dead. However, they got the shock of their lives to see that Harry was still alive and well in his carrier, except for a cut on his forehead that resembled a lightning bolt and crying for his parents.

Makena picked up the crying Harry and comforted him, while the rest of the Order present tried to make sense of what happened. Finally Dumbledore said, "It seems that when Lily and James sacrificed their lives for their son, it created some sort of protection. And I feel the residue of a spell that Lily seems to have activated before she died. In any case, that protection caused the Killing Curse to rebound on Voldemort when he tried to kill Harry."

"Oh lovely," said Yun, understanding the implications of this. "So in one night, Harry becomes an orphan and will be famous for surviving the Killing Curse and appearing to be the cause of Voldemort's death, even though it was more his parents' sacrifice than his doing."

Dumbledore nodded. "Since the deaths of Lily and James were instrumental in Harry's protection, I suggest that we send him to his aunt and uncle for the time being. There are certain wards we can set up to keep Harry safe, which will be tied in to the blood that he shares with his aunt."

"I suppose," said Nicole. "Let me tend to the cut on Harry's head and check him over. Tomorrow morning, Makena and I can go visit Petunia and Tau and explain everything to them. Professor Dumbledore, I suppose you'll tell the rest of the Wizarding world about Voldemort's defeat?"

"Yes, but after that, the wards will need to be set up."

"Actually, Headmaster Dumbledore, I can do that," said Marshall. "I learned Warding in school, and I recently attained my mastery in it and Defense. That will free you to meet with the Ministry and deal with the aftermath of all this. But you may double check my work later on, if you like."

"All right then, I leave it in your hands," said Professor Dumbledore. "You were all close friends with Lily and James and I trust you to handle this." He silently Apparated away, leaving what was left of the Phoenix Club to mourn the deaths of their friends and deal with Harry Potter.

Author's Note: I hope my method of how Voldemort decided to get his hands on Harry Potter and kill him was plausible.


	5. Chapter 5

Petunia burst into tears after Makena and Nicole gently explained about Lily and James's deaths and how it had happened. "Why didn't they move to Windmere right after they found out that they needed to go into hiding?" Petunia wailed. "Then maybe all of this could have been avoided."

"Lily and James wanted to be close to their families," Nicole explained. "The only reason they changed their minds was because Mr. and Mrs. Potter died and Makena promised to protect you and Tau. They had no idea that Dylan was being controlled by Voldemort."

Petunia wiped her eyes and asked, "But is Harry really better off with my family for the time being? Yes, Tau and I are his uncle and aunt, but we're Muggles. How do you expect us to properly protect our nephew, who apparently is now famous in the wizarding world?"

"Marshall is going to set up some wards," Makena replied. "Since Harry survived through his parents' protection, and you and June are the only living relatives that aren't distant cousins, this will provide blood protection that the wards will be keyed to. Besides, your own daughter is a witch, and it will be good for Harry and June to grow up together."

"I suppose," sighed Petunia. "But why can't one of you take in Harry? I'm not saying I don't want him or anything, but your group was very close to Lily and James, like brothers and sisters. And Harry has two sets of godparents, who naturally can be expected to step in as guardians."

Nicole sighed and explained, "Right now, none of us are really in a position to properly take care of Harry. Sirius, Fiona, Severus, and Claire are arranging the funerals, since they were Lily and James's best friends in our group. The rest of us are busy trying to keep Dylan from killing himself. While we all know that it was Voldemort that put him under the Imperius Curse and controlled his actions, and therefore don't blame him, Dylan doesn't think the same. He keeps screaming that it's all his fault that Lily and James are dead. We've had to remove all knives and other sharp objects from his home, along with anything that can be used as a rope, and Yuki's locked away his wand and hers away so he can't use magic to kill himself."

Petunia looked shocked. "Oh dear! Is Dylan going to recover, or is he still going to blame himself and try to commit suicide?"

"I hope it's the first," said Nicole. "I've recently been certified to be a Mind-Healer, in addition to being a regular Healer, so I'm setting up sessions with Dylan to help him through this. Anyway, Petunia, you and Tau need to care for Harry for the time being. After everything that's happened, he needs a stable environment. When he's older, his godparents can help with his upbringing, and the rest of us in the Phoenix Club are also available."

"I'll do it," said Petunia, a determined look coming to her face. "I love my nephew, and I loved my sister. Harry will be cared for as well as my daughter is."

"I'll go to Tau's workplace and notify him what happened so you don't have to do it, Petunia," said Makena. "Oh, and here." She took out a bag that had an Undetectable Extension Charm on it. "We packed up Harry's things. Where would you like us to set it up?"

Petunia led the way to the room that had been set up as nursery. Makena took out Harry's crib from the bag and Unshrunk it. That was followed by a mobile, his toy broomstick, a number of other toys, two bags of nappies, and some picture books. Nicole handed Petunia an envelope, which contained seven hundred pounds. "What's left of the Phoenix Club took up a collection. We understand that you and Tau aren't exactly prepared to take in another person, and wanted to defray some of the initial costs of raising your nephew."

"It's not necessary," Petunia protested. "Tau makes enough money to provide for us, and once June and Harry are old enough to attend primary school, I intend to go back to work, even if it's part time."

"Petunia, this isn't charity, nor are we implying that you and Tau can't provide for Harry," Makena said gently. "This is the only monetary gift that we plan on giving, since Harry's presence in your home is unexpected. In a few months, you'll have adjusted and can take care of Harry's needs without our help."

Petunia hesitated, but in the end reluctantly accepted the money. As Harry had fallen asleep in his carrier, she put him to bed in his crib, and then saw Nicole and Makena out.

* * *

A week later were the funerals for Lily and James. By this point, Dylan had stopped blaming himself. In part, this had to do with the fact that he had tried to drown himself in the bathtub. While he had been unconscious, he had found himself in an in-between place. Lily and James had appeared, told him in no uncertain terms that he was being an idiot and they didn't blame him for their deaths, placing it squarely on Voldemort's shoulders. After that, Lily pointed out that the Phoenix Club didn't need to lose another member, and James threatened to make Dylan's time in the afterlife a misery if he actually followed through with dying.

At that point, Dylan finally acknowledged that he was being stupid, and told his friends that for their sake, he was going to return to life and help in the raising of their son. The two bid him good-bye, saying sternly that they didn't want to see him again for at least eighty years, and that was when Dylan woke up to find Yuki and Nicole bent over his body, resuscitating him. He had told them about his vision and assured them that he wasn't going to try to commit suicide again, though Nicole still insisted that he continue with the mind-healing sessions.

The surviving members of the Order, Petunia and Tau, all of the staff from Nightwind School, and various people in the British wizarding world, including Minister of Magic Millicent Bagnold, were present at the funeral. It ended up lasting four hours, since everyone in the Order and the Nightwind School staff got up to speak. When it ended, James and Lily's coffins were placed in their plots at the graveyard in Godric's Hollow, and their gravestone set up.

The rest of the Phoenix Club went through the Potters' belongings and boxed up some of it to be given to Harry when he was older. The house in Godric's Hollow was shut up for the time being, though Harry could open it up and take residence in it once he turned of age. According to the Potters' will, guardianship of their son was given primarily to Petunia, Tau, and his godparents, though the rest of their friends were also allowed input. The house, the Potter estate, and the bulk of the family money and heirlooms were left to Harry, with various mementos and small cash grants left to their friends.

At the end of November, Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband Rudolphus, brother-in-law Rabastan, and Barty Crouch Jr (son of the Head of Magical Law Enforcement) tried to attack Regulus and Katya. Part of it was due to the fact that Stella had been a prophecy child, and part due to the fact that the four Death Eaters thought they might have some knowledge of the whereabouts of Voldemort, as they had been present on the night of his defeat. Also, in Bellatrix's case, she wanted to get revenge on her cousin, who she felt was a disgrace to the Black family name.

However, Katya was not home at the time of the attack, as she had taken Stella to visit her parents. As for Regulus, he had not dropped his guard any, even with Voldemort gone, and the wards on his home activated, Stunning the Death Eaters when they first tried to breach them. He had then contacted the Auror Department, who arrested the four. Barty Crouch Sr. was shocked, then disgusted to discover that his son was among the group. He made his disgust quite clear during the trial held for the group, where they were found guilty, and ignored the pleas from his son to not be sent back to the dementors.

Things settled down in the wizarding world after that. Harry grew up quite happily in the home of his relatives, and his parents' friends visited whenever they could. The ones that came most often were his 'Aunt' Katya and 'Uncle' Sirius and 'Aunt' Fiona, who brought Stella and Arista over for play dates.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: And now we move on to Harry's first day of primary school. I hope everyone enjoys the chapter. I apologize if some of the speech is a little advanced for five-year olds, since I haven't interacted with any for years and have mostly forgotten how they normally talk.

"Doesn't you hair ever lie straight, Harry?" Petunia asked, trying to flatten her nephew's rather messy hair with a wet comb.

Harry shrugged. "Uncle Sirius says my dad's hair was always messy."

Aunt Petunia sighed, and after managing to get his hair to neaten up somewhat, set down the comb. "Okay, go put on your shoes and grab your backpack while I do June's hair. June, it's your turn."

Her daughter moved to stand in front of her mother, who picked up a brush and began brushing her somewhat wavy black hair, which was a compromise between her father's curly hair and mother's straight hair. The hair was then quickly divided in two and braided into two braids, to be tied at the ends with red ribbons. "There!" said Petunia when she was done. "All right, June, you can grab your backpack."

June grabbed her backpack and stood next to Harry, and that was when the doorbell rang. A minute later, their Aunt Fiona and a very excited Arista walked into the kitchen. "Hello, June and Harry," said Aunt Fiona. "Ready for your first day of school?"

"Uh-huh," said Harry, while June nodded next to him. "I can't wait to meet other kids like us."

June added, "An' our friends will be there too."

"It's going to be fun!" exclaimed Arista. "Mummy said she had fun at school and we would too."

"All right, I have the Portkey ready," said Aunt Fiona. "We'll be leaving in a couple of minutes.

Petunia hugged the three kids. "Have fun at school, guys. June and Harry, try to behave. I love you and will see you when you come home."

"We will, Mummy," said June, smiling up at her mother.

"And I love you too, Aunt Tuney," said Harry.

"See you later, Aunt Tuney!" Arista said, and then the three children reached out to touch the book Fiona was holding. A minute later, they felt a tug on their navels and disappeared.

Several seconds later, the group arrived in the entryway of Windmere Primary School. The three children, not being accustomed to Portkeys, lost their balances and fell, but Fiona was able to stay on her feet. She tucked the book Portkey in her purse and helped the three up. "Now, let's go to your classroom, guys." She led the way to a small classroom at the end of the hall, where a plump, motherly-looking woman with red hair greeted them. There were two boys and one girl, Harry's godsister Eileen, with her in the room.

"Hello, I'm your teacher, Mrs. Weasley," said the woman with a kind smile. "Welcome to kindergarten."

The three children said hello, and Fiona said, "Hello, Mrs. Weasley. I'm Fiona Black. This is my daughter, Arista. The boy is my godson, Harry Potter, and that's his cousin, Juniper Okoro, who goes by June."

Mrs. Weasley's eyes widened a bit when she heard Harry's name, but otherwise she showed no reaction to it. "It's lovely to meet you all. Why don't the three of you hang up your backpacks in the cloakroom there and then sit down at that table?"

The three did as told and then sat down at the table Eileen was sitting. "Hi, guys!" she exclaimed, looking very excited. "It's going to be fun being with you at school."

"Do you know the two boys, Eileen?" asked June, looking at the other table where the two boys were, one with red hair and blue eyes that looked like he might be the son of the teacher, and the other with brown hair and eyes.

"The red-haired boy is Ron Weasley," Eileen replied. "His mummy is our teacher. He has five big brothers and a sister. Bill an' Charlie are already at Nightwind School, an' Ginny won't start school till next year. The other boy is Neville Longbottom. His dad is a teacher at Nightwind School, and his mummy is a sub-sub'stute teacher when Uncle Remus can't teach."

Harry recalled Eileen mentioning the two boys before, since as she lived in Windmere, she had played with them frequently. He opened his mouth to say so, but was distracted by Aunt Cissy arriving with Draco, with Aunt Katya and Stella right behind them. Both Draco and Stella were a little disappointed to find out that the first table was full, since the tables only sat four students, but willingly sat down at the other table with Ron and Neville.

The other mothers left, and a minute later, as the clock ticked to nine o'clock, the bell rang, signifying the start of school. "Good morning class," said Mrs. Weasley, smiling at the eight students. "As I said, I am Mrs. Weasley, your teacher. We are going to have a fun school year, and you will learn to read and write."

Draco raised his hand, and when he was called on, said, "Mrs. Weasley, I can already write my name. And I can read a little, too."

"That's good," said Mrs. Weasley. "I'm sure all or most of you can do that. But just being able to write your name isn't enough, Draco. You'll learn to write other words, and learn to read different words than the ones you already know. Now, to start with, I would like everyone to stand up and tell everyone your name and something about yourself. Neville, you can start."

The brown haired boy stood up. "Hi. My name is Neville Longbottom. My daddy is a teacher at Nightwind School. I like chock-late ice cream an' frogs."

Ron was next. "I'm Ronald Weasley, but ev'rybody calls me Ron for short, 'cept when I'm trouble. Mum is our teacher, an' I have five big brothers an' a little sister. My fav'rite Quidditch team is the Chudley Cannons."

Draco then stood up. "I'm Draco Malfoy. I have a baby sister named Carina. I like apples and flying on my training broom."

After him was Stella. "I'm Stella Black. Draco and Arista are my cousins, and I like to read. My fav'rite books are the Dr. Seuss ones."

Mrs. Weasley then moved on to the next table. "My name is Harry Potter. I live with my Aunt Tuney and Uncle Tau, 'cause my mummy and daddy were killed by a bad wizard. My fav'rite color is green, and I like treacle tart."

June was next. "My name is Juniper Okoro, but you can call me June. I'm Harry's cousin, an' my Uncle Yun is a teacher at Nightwind School. My Aunt Makena is the fourth-grade teacher here. My fav'rite foods are strawberries an' chock-late frogs."

Arista stood up. "Hi, I'm Arista Black. I was named after a star, but my daddy didn't know that when I was born, 'cause he hates Astron'my. He didn't like it when he found out, 'cause the bad people in his family, 'cept for Aunt Cissy, who's nice, liked to name their kids after stars. Stella and Draco are my cousins, an' Harry is my godbrother, 'cause his parents were my godparents an' my parents are his."

Eileen was last. "My name is Eileen Prince-Nightwind. My many times great-grandparents founded Nightwind School. My daddy teaches Potions and my mummy is a Healer. Harry's my godbrother too, 'cause my parents were his other godparents. My favorite color is purple."

Once everyone was done introducing themselves, Mrs. Weasley showed them where the bathroom was and then ascertained how much they all knew. All of them could write their own names, and could also print the alphabet. June, Harry, and Arista could write a few more words as well, though it consisted of the names of their friends, 'mummy' and 'daddy', 'love', and 'dear'. They all knew the alphabet, and were learning how to read simple words, though Draco and Stella were the only ones that could actually read a book, even if it was a simple one like _The Cat in the Hat_, by the Muggle children's author Dr. Seuss.

For their first assignment, Mrs. Weasley handed out a list of short, simple words, like 'rat' and 'stop' for them to practice reading. When they were done with that, she picked up a Dr. Seuss book, this one titled _Horton Hears a Who_, and read to them from it. When she was done with that, it was snacktime, and everyone was given a cup of pumpkin juice or orange juice (depending on their preference) and slices of apple dipped in peanut butter.

After snacktime, they were allowed to play. Harry and Draco walked over to Neville and Ron. "Want to play with us?" asked Harry. "Draco's the only boy I could play with before. 'Cept for Keith and Peter, but they're not old 'nuff for school."

"Sure," said Ron, while Neville nodded. "Who's Peter? I know Keith, 'cause he's Eileen's brother."

"Peter's the son of my Aunt Yuki and Uncle Dylan," replied Harry. "They're not really my aunt and uncle, but I call them that 'cause they were friends with my parents. Peter's named after the actor that played the Fifth Doctor in _Doctor Who_, 'cause he's their favorite Doctor."

"What's _Doctor Who_?" asked Neville curiously.

"It's a show on the telly," Draco said, as the four boys started building a tower out of blocks. He and Harry did their best to explain the television show, and said that Aunt Yuki and Uncle Dylan liked science-fiction a lot. They also had a daughter, who was two, named Leia, after the character in the _Star Wars_ movies, and two months ago, had another son, who was named Hikaru after their favorite character in the television show _Star Trek_, the helmsman Lt. Sulu (whose first name was revealed in a _Star Trek_ novel published four years ago.)

Ron and Neville were aware of what a telly was, and the same for movies, though as they lived in Windmere and rarely went out into the Muggle world, they had only seen a couple of movies. As for television shows, they had seen a couple of episodes of a children's show called _Sesame Street_ when they visited some of their parents' friends, who happened to live in the United States, but that was it.

After playtime was lunch, and the kindergarten class walked to the other end of the primary school, where the school cafeteria was. Ron pointed out his twin brothers, Fred and George, who were second grade and liked to joke around and play pranks, and his brother Percy, who was in fourth grade and more serious, being quite focused on doing well in school.

For lunch was a selection of sandwiches, carrot sticks, fruit cups, milk and juice to drink, and a cookie/biscuit or a small pudding cup for dessert. Harry selected a turkey sandwich, a handful of carrot sticks, a fruit cup, a cup of milk, and a biscuit for his lunch, and sat down at the kindergarten table between his cousin and Draco. Mrs. Weasley sat a table with the other teachers, and Harry and June waved to the fourth-grade teacher, their Aunt Makena (though she was really June's aunt), who returned the wave.

When lunch ended, the kindergartners had a half hour rest period, and then Mrs. Weasley handed out paper and crayons and had them draw pictures of their bedrooms. When they were done drawing, they were told to put their pictures in their backpacks to take home, and she moved on to have them practice writing the alphabet. After that, she read another book, this time a wizarding book about a boy learning to fly on his broom, and passed out cups of water to drink. This was followed by another play period, this time outside on the school playground, and then school ended for the day at half past three.

Harry was rather disappointed that school was over, since he had enjoyed playing with Neville and Ron and had decided to include them in his group of friends. "Harry, you'll see us again tomorrow," Neville pointed out. "An' you can ask if you can come visit."

Harry cheered up at this, and then Fiona and the other mothers appeared to take their children home. The children bid good-bye to each other, and then to their teacher (with the exception of Ron, as she was his mother and they were going home together). Fiona took the book out of her purse and had Arista, Harry, and June touch it again. A minute later, the Portkey activated and they were whisked back to the Okoro kitchen.

Petunia was waiting with a snack of orange slices and some pretzels and milk. "How was your day, guys?" she asked. "Fiona, please join us for a few minutes before going home with Arista."

"It was fun!" said June enthusiastically. "Mrs. Weasley was our teacher, an' she was very nice."

"We made two new friends," said Arista. "Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom."

"Ron's mummy was the teacher," Harry said. "He's got five big brothers and a little sister. The two biggest ones, Bill and Charlie, are at Nightwind School. Percy's in fourth grade, and Fred and George are in second grade. They're twins and Ron says they're really funny and like to play pranks. Ginny's only four and goes to the day care center with Keith and Peter and the other little kids."

"Neville's dad is a teacher at Nightwind School," June added. "His mummy is a sub'stute teacher for Uncle Remus when he's sick. Here, Mummy. Mrs. Weasley had us draw pictures of our bedrooms." She took out her picture from her backpack, and Harry and Arista instantly followed suit.

"The pictures are very nice, Harry and June," said Petunia, smiling over the two pictures before hanging them up on the refrigerator.

Fiona looked down at her daughter's picture. "Your picture is very nice too, Arista. Can you please put it back in your backpack so you can show it to Daddy when we go home?"

"'Kay, Mummy," said Arista, doing as asked. A few minutes later, she finished her snack, and her mother finished the cup of tea and pretzels that Petunia had given her.

"All right, it's time for us to go home now, Arista," Fiona said. "We'll see you all tomorrow."

Arista waved good-bye to her friends, and then she and and her mother left the house, got into their car, and drove home.


	7. Chapter 7

As the school year continued, Harry enjoyed his time at Windmere Primary School. Ron and Neville quickly integrated in his circle of friends, and the eight of them played together. On the weekends, they would all visit each other, taking turns as to whose house or flat they would stay in. Neville's parents were very nice people, and he had a younger sister named Diana, who was two years old. Ron's sister Ginny and Eileen's brother Keith would sometimes join in, as they were four, and the twins Fred and George would occasionally play some funny but harmless pranks or suggest cool activities to do.

Harry would also visit Uncle Remus and Aunt Amina, and their daughter Layla, who was the same age as Diana Longbottom. Uncle Kurt would also drop by on Sunday, and Harry was happy to be able to spend more time with him. Previously Uncle Kurt had been away at a Jewish theological seminary, and so hadn't been able to visit much except during the summer. Now that he had graduated, however, he had some more free time, and he was living in Windmere and taking over some of the duties of Rabbi Goldberg, who was elderly and planning on mostly retiring within the next few years.

Christmas came and went. Harry received a training broom and a practice quaffle and snitch from his godparents, and various toys and books from his relatives, friends, and other 'aunts' and 'uncles'. Mrs. Weasley sent him a green jumper that had a Snitch worked in the front and a box of nut brittle. Her accompanying note (which Aunt Petunia helped him read), said that she made jumpers every year for her family at Christmas, and was now including Ron's friends. At that, June immediately opened her parcel from Mrs. Weasley, to reveal that she had a jumper as well, hers a pale blue with a cluster of juniper berries worked in the front, and a box of fruit drops.

In June, the school year ended. While Harry was excited to be promoted to first grade, he was also sad about leaving kindergarten and Mrs. Weasley, who was kind, motherly, and an all-around wonderful teacher. "It's all right, Harry dear," she said when he hugged her tightly on the last day of school and wailed that he was going to miss her. "Just because I'll no longer be your teacher doesn't mean you'll never see me again. Or have your forgotten that you are friends with Ron and are always welcome to visit?"

"But what if my first grade teacher isn't as nice as you?" Harry asked.

"Don't worry, Miss Susanne Heliat is a very nice teacher and you will learn many new things in her class," Mrs. Weasley assured him. "All her students like her and many don't want to leave her when they finish first grade."

Harry thought this over for a minute, then said, "Okay. But no teacher will be as good as you, Mrs. Weasley."

Mrs. Weasley smiled at the praise, then bid Harry good-bye, as the school day was over.

* * *

During the summer holidays, Petunia and Tau took Harry and June on two-week trip to Brighton, a seaside city in Britain. With them was Stella, Arista, and their families. They had fun going to the beach, visiting attractions such as amusement arcades, the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, and the Booth Museum of Natural History. It was the first real holiday trip that the children had ever been on, since before that, they were too young to properly enjoy anything that wasn't a trip to the local zoo or something similar, and visiting family friends didn't count.

After that, Harry celebrated his sixth birthday, with a party that all his friends attended. As a special birthday gift, Uncle Sirius and Fiona presented him with tickets to the Holyhead Harpies-Chudley Cannons Quidditch match next week, and all his friends were invited to go with him. Ron was especially excited about that, since the Cannons were his favorite team, and he got into an argument with Arista, who supported the Harpies.

"Your team hasn't won a League Cup for 'most a hundred years," Arista said, sounding superior. "They're a bad team."

"You take that back!" Ron snapped, face turning red. "The Cannons are great! 'Sides, your team has all girls."

"What does that mean?" Arista snapped back. "Girls can do anything boys can, and better too! I can kick a ball farther than you."

Ron chose to ignore that and instead said, "Well, the Cannons are the bestest team ever! They're gonna win!"

Arista laughed. "Ron, their motto is 'Let's just all keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best!' If the Cannons win, then I'll give you my stuffed dragon."

"Deal," said Ron. "The Cannons will win, and I'll get your dragon."

"But what if the Harpies win?" Harry piped up. "Then you have to give Arista something."

Ron looked annoyed at this, but Arista thought for a moment, then said with a wicked smile, "If the Harpies win, Ron has to kiss me."

"What? No!" Ron exclaimed, making a disgusted face. "I'm not kissing you! That's too gross."

"All right, that's enough," said Sirius, a frown on his face. "Arista, stop teasing Ron. He's not going to kiss you if the Harpies win the match. Have him give you some sweets or something."

"Fine, Daddy," said Arista. "Ron, if the Harpies win, you have to give me two chocolate frogs." Ron agreed to that.

As it turned out, after an hour long match, the Harpies did win, three hundred eighty points to ninety. Ron looked sulky at the loss, but said he would give Arista the two chocolate frogs the next time they saw each other.

"That was a good match, wasn't it?" asked Fiona (she, Sirius, and Neville's parents had come along as chaperons). "I am sorry that the Cannons lost, Ron."

"Look on the bright side, they did manage to make nine goals," Mrs. Longbottom said.

"I guess," said Ron. "I still wish the Cannons had won, though."

"Maybe they will in their next match," Sirius said, and shot his daughter a Look before she could say anything against it.

The group then returned to the Okoro home and the children spent the afternoon playing before returning to their respective homes for dinner.

Author's Note: Yes, the same of the first grade teacher is a reference to the _Discworld_ character Susan Sto Helit, the adopted granddaughter of Death. However, other than some similarities in appearance, choice of job, and not talking down to children, they aren't quite the same. Miss Heliat smiles quite frequently and doesn't teach the same way that Susan Sto Helit does.


	8. Chapter 8

First grade with Miss Heliat turned out to be quite enjoyable. She was a woman in her late twenties and happened to be a Metamorphmagus, which she explained meant that she was born with the ability to change her appearance at will without needing to use potions or spells. She normally looked like the average, fairly pretty woman, except she kept her hair as a shade of blonde so pale that it looked almost white, except for a streak of black in the middle, and she liked to change the color of her eyes so that it was a different one every day. However, every so often she would change her appearance for her students' amusement, or when acting out something from a book she was reading to them so she could match the characters' looks.

In addition to reading and writing lessons, the class learned simple arithmetic, which consisted first of addition, then moving on to subtraction. They also had spelling lessons, which ended in tests or spelling bees at the end of the week, where they learned to spell three, four, and five-letter words. Miss Heliat handed out gold stars, stickers, and the occasional sweet to those that did well, and due to her habit of never speaking down to children, the class' vocabulary grew. Her lessons often incorporated magic, as she would often create colored balls of light or conjure up small items when demonstrating a math problem, and she would create illusionary letters when teaching spelling.

Once a week, on Fridays, Miss Heliat would conjure up a bag, which was always filled up art supplies and other materials for a project. The projects for the first Friday of each month always involved making a decorative name tag for each student's desk, which would reflect the month. For example, the ones made in October had pumpkins and drawings of sweets (for Halloween), the ones in December had Christmas and Hanukkah related decorations, and the ones in March had drawings of crocuses and tulips.

Ron, Arista, and Draco had birthdays during the school year, and the class celebrated them. Miss Heliat gave the birthday boy or girl the gift of a book and a box of crayons, had them blow out a candle in the shape of the number seven on top of their favorite kind of cake after the class sang 'Happy Birthday', and then cut slices of cake for everyone. Since the other students had birthdays after school ended for the summer, Miss Heliat had early birthday celebrations for them during the last week of school, one each day, so that each one of them could have their special day.

Stella's took place on the last day of school, on a Friday, with her cake being an ice cream cake, with a spell on it to keep it from melting until eaten. A pinata in the shape of a unicorn had also been set up, with the students taking turns to hit it while blindfolded, and in the end Draco was the one that actually broke through it. Various sweets fell out, and after everyone had gotten a equal share, Miss Heliat handed out additional sweets, one for each gold star that the students had been awarded throughout the school year. Stella, who had been awarded the most gold stars at thirty-six, got the most additional candy. Though the class was celebrating, there was a slight undertone of sadness, for it was the last day of the school year and all of them wished that they could keep Miss Heliat as a teacher.

When the bell rang, signifying that the school day was over, the students clustered around their teacher. "Can't you switch and teach second grade, Miss Heliat?" asked Ron.

"That wouldn't be fair to the graduating kindergarten class," Miss Heliat replied. "Don't you want your sister to experience having me for their first grade teacher, Ron?"

"Yes," Ron admitted. "But you're as good a teacher as Mum."

"Yeah," Eileen seconded. "We wish we could have you forever, Miss Heliat."

"I'm sorry, but when you finish a grade, you have to move on and have a new teacher in the next grade," said Miss Heliat gently. "Also, you couldn't have me as your teacher forever even if I did move on to teach the other grades. Eventually you'd start Nightwind School and you would have different teachers for the various subjects you'd have to take. And someday, you would have grown up and graduated from school."

"But second grade won't be fun without you, Miss Heliat," Harry protested.

"Just because I won't be your teacher doesn't mean second grade won't be fun. Mr. Larson is very nice and he does fun activities. And you can always stop by and say hello to me. Now, your parents are here to pick you up, so please get your backpacks. Have a good summer, everyone."

During the holidays, Harry spent two weeks with Aunt Yuki and Uncle Dylan. They had recently had a second daughter, whom they named Sarah Jane, after their favorite of the Doctor's companions in _Doctor Who_. The entire family spent the two weeks in Japan, since Sarah Jane had to be introduced to her maternal grandparents. Harry learned some Japanese words while he was there, and had fun visiting temples, the wizarding part of Tokyo, and seeing the Japanese wizarding school, Mahoutokoro School of Magic. He had his first taste of sushi, and while some he didn't particularly care for, he liked the others, especially the shrimp and eel ones. For his birthday he was taken to a Quidditch match, where he cheered on the Toyohashi Tengu team, which ended up winning.

After that, Harry went to visit Uncle Remus and Aunt Amina, who now had a son in addition to their daughter, named Zane. They were spending the summer in Saudi Arabia, in order to visit Aunt Amina's family. It was quite hot, the only thing that Harry didn't like, though thanks to cooling spells inside the house, he only had to deal with it when outside during the day. He was able to visit the wizarding section of the capital, Riyadh, which outside of where the government was housed and the hospital was set up like a bazaar, and had a ride on a flying carpet (which was a pleasant ride, but he preferred the broom). In Arab countries, lunch was normally the main meal of the day, and the food served during the meals was very different from British cuisine, but delicious.

When the visit ended, Harry returned home to spend the last two weeks of the holidays with his relatives. Uncle Tau took a few days off work and the family toured London, including a visit to Diagon Alley.

On the first day of second grade, when Mr. Larson was taking attendance, he looked up with a humorous smile when he got to Ron's name. "So, Ron, are you a prankster like your twin brothers Fred and George, or are you more serious about your schoolwork like your brother Percy?"

"I'm neither, Mr. Larson," replied Ron, returning the smile. "I like pranks, but I don't play pranks often, and while I want to do well in school, I don't fuss over it like Percy."

"Then you'd be more like Charlie and Bill, then," said Mr. Larson. "Which means I don't have to teach you to relax and not fuss so much over schoolwork, nor teach you that there are times to focus and not go about playing pranks." He put down the student list and continued, "For your first assignment today, I would like you all to take out your notebooks and write a summary of your summer vacations. When you're done, bring them up to me and I'll look them over. Once everyone has finished, you will come up one by one to the front of the room and read what you wrote."

Harry raised his hand. "Mr. Larson, I visited three places over the summer. Do I have to write about all three, because that could take a long time?"

"No, Harry, you can just write about one of them," said Mr. Larson with a smile. "Just pick the place you liked visiting the most and write about that."

Harry thought for a moment and decided that he liked visiting Japan the best, so that was the focus of his summary. He wrote about the places he went to in Japan, the new foods he'd eaten, the Quidditch match he saw on his birthday, and included some of the Japanese words he had learned.

After everyone had read their essays, Mr. Larson then handed out copies of a book entitiled _Amelia Bedelia_. "To start out the school year, we are going to read these very funny Muggle books about a housekeeper named Amelia Bedelia, who has some trouble with words whenever Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, the couple she works for, asks her to do something. You'll see what I mean when we start reading. Ron, could you please start by reading the first page for us?"

As the book progressed, the students giggled over the silly things that Amelia Bedelia did, such as interpreting the order to 'dust the furniture' by sprinkling dusting powder over the furniture, and 'dressing the chicken' (that was to be for dinner) by making an outfit and putting the chicken in it. At the end of the story, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers were going to fire Amelia Bedelia, but upon tasting the delicious lemon meringue pie she made, they forgave her and in the future tried to give her better instructions (such as having her undust the furniture rather than dust them).

"So, what did you all think about the book?" Mr. Larson asked after June had read the last page.

"Amelia Bedelia was funny," said Eileen. "She takes everything literally."

Mr. Larson nodded. "That is the kind of person she is. However, she is a very good cook, so that is why she is able to keep her job. Tomorrow we'll read the next book in the series, entitled _Thank You, Amelia Bedelia_."

Draco raised a hand. "So does Amelia Bedelia do this in every book?"

"Yes, she does, Draco. I won't tell you what she does, because that would spoil the books you haven't read yet, but I think you can guess."

Harry raised his hand. "My Aunt Petunia makes sponge cake. So if Amelia Bedelia made a sponge cake, would she use a sponge in it? You know, the kind used for washing things?"

"Very good, Harry, that would be something that Amelia Bedelia would do," said Mr. Larson. He glanced at the clock, then said, "All right, it's snack time, and after that, you can all go outside to the playground for recess."

After a snack of juice and granola bars, the class went out to the playground. They had a fun game of tag, and then the boys went on the swings while the girls skipped rope. After that, they went back inside where Mr. Larson did a review on the arithmetic they had learned in first grade, and then dismissed them for lunch.

In the afternoon they had a spelling bee, where Stella, who won it, was awarded a gold star and a chocolate frog. Harry, who came in second, got a silver star and a licorice wand, and Arista, who came in third, got a bronze star and a strawberry-flavored fruit drop. After the spelling bee they had recess again, followed by an art project, and then school was over for the day.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: I am going to summarize the remainder of Harry's time at primary school, and then I will move on to the acceptance letters and his years at Nightwind School.

Second grade passed and the class moved on the third grade, which was taught by a frizzy, red-haired witch named Ms. Frazzles. She liked using magic when demonstrating things, and when they read books by Muggle writer Roald Dahl and wizarding writer Alison Peasegood during reading class, she would create illusory figures that would act out what was happening. Fourth grade was taught by Mr. Carmichael, and lessons about wizarding theory and the properties of potions ingredients were included. Finally, for fifth grade was Mr. Sato, who included some lessons about Nightwind School, so that it wouldn't be a huge shock when transitioning from primary school to secondary school.

* * *

Hermione Granger was curled up on the window seat in her bedroom, immersed in a thick tome about Greek culture that she had checked out from the library yesterday, when she heard the doorbell ring. She looked up for a moment, but then heard her mother answer the door, so she returned her attention back to the book. However, a couple of minutes later, there was a knock on her door. She looked up to see her mother standing in the doorway, a look of puzzlement on her face.

"Hermione, could you come downstairs to the living room? The person at the door said that she is Mrs. Claire Nightwind-Prince and wanted to speak to us about you attending the school she works at."

Hermione, wondering what this was all about, placed a bookmark in the book and set it to one side as she got up. She followed her mother downstairs and into the living room, where her father and a woman of mixed Asian and European descent and in her early thirties sat. Hermione and her mother sat down on the sofa, next to her father. The woman smiled at her.

"Hello, Hermione," she said. "My name is Claire Nightwind-Prince. Now, I am going to ask you what may seem to be an odd question. Have you or your parents ever noticed any unusual things that you have done or has happened around you without any plausible explanation?"

Mr. and Mrs. Granger both looked rather hesitant to answer the question, but Hermione's eyes grew wide and she exclaimed, "I once made a book float down from the top shelf of the bookcase when I was five, because I was frustrated at not being able to read it. After I read the book _Matilda_ by Roald Dahl, I discovered that I could move objects like Matilda could, before she lost her powers, anyway. Also, once I got mad at a girl at school that was teasing me and she somehow fell down, with nobody touching her or doing anything to make her fall. Does this mean I have special powers like Matilda?"

Mrs. Nightwind-Prince smiled again and she replied, "From what my daughter told me about the book when she read it four years ago, your abilities could be considered special powers, but it's not psychic in nature like Matilda's. What it actually is happens to be magic, and you are a witch."

Mrs. Granger stiffened, while Mr. Granger snapped, "Excuse me, but magic, other than sleight-of-hand tricks termed as 'magic', doesn't exist, Mrs. Nightwind-Prince. Is this some sort of prank?"

"Mr. Granger, I know this is hard to believe, but magic does exist," said Mrs. Nightwind-Prince calmly. "Allow me to demonstrate." She took out a polished wooden stick from her skirt pocket and pointed it at the blue-flowered vase on the end table that was next to her armchair. "_Wingardium Leviosa_!" The vase floated up into the air and she requested that the Grangers feel around it to prove that it there were no almost invisible wires or anything else that was levitating it.

Once they were done, she set the vase down and pointed the stick, or rather wand, at it again. She said another spell and the vase was transformed into a turtle. The Grangers stared at the turtle in shock and ascertained that it really was a turtle before Mrs. Nightwind-Prince turned it back into a vase. She then pointed the wand at her lap and said, "_Orchideus_!" A small bouquet of various flowers sprouted from the tip to fall onto her lap. She presented the bouquet to Mrs. Granger, who sniffed the flowers and tentatively touched the petals and stems.

"They certainly look, feel, and smell real," Mrs. Granger said. "I think we believe you now that magic exists, Mrs. Nightwind-Prince." She handed the bouquet back, saying, "You can put them in the vase."

Mrs. Nightwind-Prince produced a stream of water from her wand and into the vase before putting the flowers in it. She then turned her attention back to the Grangers. "Let me fully explain things. As you have now been made aware, magic exists. Your daughter can do magic and so is a witch, as am I. A male that can perform magic is called a wizard. In fact, a small but significant percentage of the world's population are witches and wizards, but they mostly live separately from non-magical people, or Muggles, as the wizarding world calls them. There is a Statue of Secrecy imposed on the wizarding world, which means that Muggles are not supposed to know about magic, other than family members of a Muggleborn witch or wizard, a Muggle that marries a witch or wizard, and most elected leaders of the various nations of the world, such as a president or prime minister."

"So what you're saying is that my wife and I are Muggles, or non-magical people," Mr. Granger said. "And we somehow produced a daughter that is a witch. How is this possible?"

"You or your wife most likely have a wizarding ancestor somewhere back in the family tree," Mrs. Nightwind-Prince answered. "You see, it is possible, though quite rare, for a person with at least one magical parent to be born without magic. The wizarding world refers to them as Squibs. Since Squibs cannot perform magic, many of them choose, or if they have intolerant parents, are forced, to live in Muggle society. They then marry Muggles, and eventually most will have a magical descendant."

"I see," said Mrs. Granger, nodding in understanding. "Since you have stated that you are here to invite Hermione to attend the school you work at, I gather this wizarding world has schools?"

"That is correct, Mrs. Granger." Mrs. Nightwind-Prince took out an envelope from her purse and handed it to Hermione. "This is your acceptance letter and list of school supplies. I am a school Healer at Nightwind School of Magic. Yes, it's the same as my last name. My many times great-grandparents were the founders of the school, and they requested that there would always be a descendant teaching or otherwise working there."

Hermione opened the envelope eagerly and took out the first sheet of parchment. "Dear Miss Hermione Granger," she read. "We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to attend Nightwind School of Magic. Enclosed is your list of school supplies for the upcoming year. The first term will start on September second. You will be taken to Nightwind School at the start of the last week of August so you may attend Orientation, purchase your supplies, and get settled into the school. We shall see you then. Yours sincerely, Headmistress Hikari Nakamura and Deputy Headmaster Oluchi Ihejirika." She stumbled a bit when reading the second name.

"Is the Deputy Headmaster African?" Hermione asked when she was done. "And the Headmistress is Japanese, isn't she, Professor Nightwind? So Nightwind School must be an international school."

Mrs. Nightwind-Prince nodded. "That is what Geoffrey and Marie Nightwind and their friends had in mind when they founded the school. They wanted to set up a place of learning for talented witches and wizards, or those with great potential, and their descendants. At the time, it was limited to those in Europe, since it was 1468, but as the other continents were explored, the school expanded to include witches and wizards from them as well. The school makes a point of making sure that all the students have at least a basic understanding of other countries and cultures, and emphasizes acceptance and tolerance of all backgrounds, creeds, religions, and what have you."

Mr. Granger raised a brow upon hearing that, since not all schools were that accepting, and of the ones that said they were, there were several who didn't actually teach their students that. Then again, since Nightwind School was open to magical students from around the world, it made sense that they would teach about other countries and cultures and enforce acceptance and tolerance.

"That is very open-minded," Mrs. Granger remarked. "Where is this school located?"

"It's located on an island in the Atlantic Ocean, about a couple of hundred miles away from the west coast of Great Britain. There are spells on the island to hide it from Muggles and protect it from unauthorized people. To get there, Hermione would have to use a Portkey, which is any object that has a transportation spell put on it to take the person touching it to whatever location it's keyed to. It's perfectly safe, and is rather like being teleported, as science-fiction would put it."

"I'm not sure how we feel about Hermione going to a school so far away," Mr. Granger said. "We had been discussing boarding school, but they were all within Britain."

"That is all up to you and Hermione," said Mrs. Nightwind-Prince. "However, I would like to make clear that it is in Hermione's best interest to attend a magical school. As of right now, she is only able to do small things consciously and bigger magics are only done accidentally, when she is upset or otherwise under great emotion. Such events will only continue, unless she learns how to control her magic. That is the purpose of wizarding schools, to learn how to control one's magic and do proper spells, usually with a wand, not the accidental and wandless magic that one does as a young child."

"You do have other options than Nightwind School when it comes to magical education, Hermione. There is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which is located in Scotland and accepts only students living in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is a very good school and was founded during the Middle Ages, though it doesn't put an emphasis on acceptance or learning about other cultures. There is Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, which is located in France, which is also a very good school, and North America has the Salem Witches Institute, which despite its name, is actually co-educational. There is also another magical school located in New Zealand for witches and wizards living there and in Australia. I doubt the other schools would fit you, since they would require you to know Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, or several African languages, like Swahili."

"Mum and Dad, I really want to go to Nightwind School," Hermione said. "I know that Mrs. Nightwind-Prince said that Hogwarts is closer to home, since it's in Scotland, but it doesn't have the open-mindedness that Nightwind School does. She also said that her school accepts students with great potential or talent or are from families that attended. Since I'm not from a magical family, that means the staff of Nightwind School thinks I have the talent or potential to succeed there."

"That's true," said Mrs. Granger thoughtfully, sharing a look with her husband. "If that's where you really want to attend, then I suppose you can go to Nightwind School."

"Thank you, Mum and Dad!" exclaimed Hermione, jumping up and hugging her parents.

Once she'd calmed down, Mr. Granger asked, "Mrs. Nightwind-Prince, could you please tell us some more about the school and the wizarding world?"

"Of course. Here is a list of the school subjects." Mrs. Nightwind-Prince took out a folded sheet of paper from her purse and handed it to Mrs. Granger. Mr. Granger and Hermione, who were sitting on either side of her, leaned over slightly to look at the paper. A brief description of the classes ensued, along with the explanation that many creatures and beings found in Muggle fantasy, like unicorns, dwarves, and centaurs, actually existed, with the beings having their own cultures. This was why there were classes on world culture and the customs of magical beings.

"I can understand that," said Mr. Granger. "I remember that a couple of my former classmates looked down on one of our classmates that was Indian. They teased and bullied him, even when I told them to stop, and it only ended when I got school administration involved."

"Well, Nightwind School has a zero tolerance policy for that kind of thing. Any student that engages in bullying will be lectured and given a detention. If that kind of thing continues, he or she is expelled. That hasn't happened so far, since most of our students are from families that attended Nightwind School and are raised to be accepting, and the ones that aren't quickly learn otherwise."

"That's good for Hermione," said Mrs. Granger. "So what about exams and so forth?"

Mrs. Nightwind-Prince explained about the Basic and Advanced Level exams, which were the equivalent of the Muggle A-levels and how they determined what career fields a student could enter.

"Are there wizarding colleges or universities?" Mrs. Granger asked.

"Not exactly," responded Mrs. Nightwind-Prince. "There are a few specialty schools, like the Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts, or ones that allow you attain a Mastery in a certain subject or field. And there are several careers that require you to go through training first. For example, to become a Healer or a Mediwitch or wizard, which is the equivalent of a doctor and nurse, you would have to undergo three years of training first. Jobs in the magical governments also require some training."

"Magical governments?" said Mr. Granger. "So I guess Britain has a Ministry of Magic or something?"

"That is correct," she replied. "All nations have a Ministry of Magic or the equivalent, like the Magical Congress of the United States. Hmm, let's see what else you need to know. Ah yes, there is a town located a short distance from the school, called Windmere. Most of the staff live there during the holidays, and their families, and the shops where you buy school supplies are located there. The wizarding world has its own monetary system." She took out a gold coin, a silver one, and a small bronze one from her purse. "It is twenty-nine bronze Knuts to one silver Sickle and seventeen Sickles to a gold Galleon. I believe the current exchange rate for Britain is approximately five pounds to one Galleon. For Hermione's school supplies, she would need two hundred fifty pounds, and you can decide what extra she might need for pocket money. As for school fees, it all depends on how much a family can afford to pay, and the maximum would be, oh, about two thousand pounds a year."

Mr. and Mrs. Granger had a quick discussion and it was decided that they would pay one thousand pounds a year. They had a successful dental practice, and they had put aside money for Hermione's education, so they could afford it. Mr. Granger wrote out a check for seven thousand pounds after Mrs. Nightwind-Prince told him that the school had an account at a Muggle bank, and she wrote out a receipt stating that Hermione's education was paid in full.

After that, she handed Hermione three books. "The first one is about the history of Nightwind School. The second one gives you some background information about the wizarding world, and the third is about the European wizarding history for the past hundred years. That should give you an idea of what you need to know, Miss Granger. Oh, and a teacher from Hogwarts is due to visit you in a couple of weeks to give you an acceptance letter there and tell you about the wizarding world. If you like, I can contact Hogwarts and let them know that you have decided to attend Nightwind School instead."

"That would be very helpful, Mrs. Nightwind-Prince," said Hermione. "It'll save them a trip."

"All right then," said Mrs. Nightwind-Prince, tucking the check into her purse and rising. "In the wizarding world, we use owls to deliver mail. So on August 25th, you will get an owl delivering your Portkey. It will be set to leave at ten am the following day, so make sure you are holding it at that time. The only things you will need to pack are your clothes, toiletry items, and any books or small items you wish to bring with you. The items on your supply list you will get during Orientation week."

With that, she gave the Grangers instructions on how to get in touch with the school in case they had further questions, they thanked her and bid her a good-day, and she left.

* * *

Anthony Goldstein exchanged awed looks with his parents. He had known that some odd events had happened around him, but hadn't expected that they would turn out to be magic, or that he was a wizard. He wasn't quite sure if this was a good thing, however. Certainly Jewish folklore had stories of golems, which he supposed were brought to existence due to magic, or something akin to it, but that didn't mean that magic was necessarily a good thing. He knew from history lessons at school that in the past, witchcraft was condemned and those found guilty of it were burned or hanged.

"It's perfectly all right," said Kurt Freidrich. "Magic is not something to be feared, and it is merely a tool. In itself, it is not good or evil; it all depends on how it is used. For example, a knife can be used to chop vegetables, but it can also be used to stab someone. I can assure you that it is all right for a Jewish person to also be a witch or wizard. After all, look at me. I am a wizard _and_ a rabbi."

Mrs. Goldstein smiled a bit uncertainly. "That is very reassuring, Rabbi Freidrich. However, is it really necessary that Anthony attend Nightwind School? We had planned on him attending a Jewish school."

"As of right now, Anthony has had several bouts of accidental magic," Rabbi Freidrich replied. "They will only continue and probably get worse without any training. Also, since he is now aware of magic, there is the chance that he will try to consciously do magic, which could cause trouble. By attending a magical school, he will learn to focus his magic so that he won't do accidental magic anymore, and learn all the proper spells and such. It really would be in his best interest to learn to master it."

"I suppose," said Mr. Goldstein. "But you said that Nightwind School is located on an island in the Atlantic Ocean that has spells to hide it from non-magical people. Isn't there any wizarding school that's located closer to our home, like in Great Britain?"

"Well, there is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which is in Scotland. It is one of the best wizarding schools in the world. The only problem is that they don't pay much attention to religion. As Nightwind School is an international school of magic, it has students from all over the world, of various faiths and cultures. So there is me, to be the rabbi to all the Jewish students. We also have a Catholic priest, a Protestant chaplain, an imam for the Muslim students, a priestess for the Hindu students, and an adviser for the Wiccan and pagan students. There is also a small temple in the town next to the school, Windmere, for the students that are Buddhists or practice other Asian religions."

"So I take it that this Hogwarts wouldn't have a rabbi associated with the school," said Mrs. Goldstein.

"That is correct," Rabbi Freidrich said. "By attending Nightwind School, Anthony will be able to attend services at the synagogue in Windmere, and I would be able to help him with any religious studies. When I was student, Rabbi Goldberg helped me prepare for my Bar Mitzvah ceremony, and when I made the decision to become a rabbi, he helped me with that as well. He retired a few years ago and I took his place as the rabbi for the school, though he still helps out and such whenever necessary."

"I really think I should attend Nightwind School, Mother and Father," said Anthony. "I ought to learn to master my magic, since Yahweh saw fit to bless me with this gift, and this is the only school of magic closest to home that also has provisions made for our religion."

"To further set your mind at ease, Mr. and Mrs. Goldstein, you needn't worry about mealtimes, either. There are always several kosher dishes available, placed at one end of the dining tables. The school kitchens are divided up too, so you don't have to worry about cross-contamination. The kosher dishes are made strictly in the section set for them, the halal dishes for the Muslim students in their own section, the vegetarian dishes in their own section, and so forth."

Mr. and Mrs. Goldstein exchanged surprised looks. "We hadn't expected that," the former said. "But as you said, it is an ease on our minds. We don't have to worry about Anthony keeping kosher."

"Nightwind School makes a point of accommodating our students' religions and cultures," pointed out Rabbi Freidrich. "In return, all students are expected to learn a basic overview of other cultures and faiths and to be accepting, or at least tolerant, of everyone else. As the school motto says, 'There is no one true way, and learning is the key to understanding.' At least, that's the English translation of the Latin. Nobody will make fun of or bully Anthony for being Jewish, at least not without earning a detention as punishment, and he in turn will not be allowed to bully anyone else."

"That's a relief," said Mrs. Goldstein. "Well, if you really want to attend Nightwind School, Anthony, then I suppose you can do so. What will he be learning exactly, Rabbi Freidrich?"

He handed the Goldsteins a list of the subjects taught at Nightwind School and explained them all. They were certainly quite surprised to find out that magical creatures and beings like goblins, dragons, centaurs, and unicorns actually existed, and that there were classes taught about them. He added that while ordinary ghosts were real, _dybbuks_ (a wandering spirit in Jewish folklore) weren't. He couldn't create a golem, either, at least not in the way as told in Jewish folklore, and the best he could do was use a spell to animate a statue or something similar until the spell either wore off or he ended it.

Rabbi Freidrich then went on to explain about the monetary system the wizarding world used, how much money was needed for Anthony's school supplies, and the set up for the school fees. He then gave Anthony three books, one a history of Nightwind School, the second giving an overview of the wizarding world, and the third containing a history of the wizarding world for the past century. Mr. and Mrs. Goldstein arranged payment for the yearly school fee (which for them was five hundred pounds), and Rabbi Freidrich explained how Anthony was going to get to the school and what he needed to bring with him. After giving instructions on how to contact the school if they had further questions, the Goldsteins bid the rabbi a good day and he left.

* * *

An owl swooped into the kitchen of the Okoro home and landed on the kitchen table, narrowly avoiding knocking over June's glass of milk. June removed the two letters tied to its leg and fed it her bacon rind and the crusts from her toast. Her mother brought over a small bowl of water, and after the owl had drunk its fill, it took off, flying out the open window.

"Ooh, our acceptance letters have arrived!" June squealed, seeing the crest of Nightwind School emblazoned on the envelopes. "Here's yours, Harry."

Harry looking very excited, took the letter that his cousin tossed him and opened it. He scanned the letter, which told him that he had been accepted into Nightwind School, and then he looked at the second piece of paper, which had the list of school supplies. "I can't wait to start learning magic, other than the theory that Mr. Carmichael and Mr. Sato taught us."

June nodded. "That'll be fun. And we'll get to meet other kids our age besides our friends, and hang out more with our friends."

"Yeah," said Harry, smiling. "I wonder who our roommates will be. I wish Draco, Ron, and Neville would be mine."

"You know that's not happening," said June. "Well, you'd likely get one of them to be your roommate, but not all three. You know Nightwind School is all about having us get to know people from other places. You can't do that very well if all your friends were your roommates."

Harry sighed. "I suppose." He then brightened. "Hey, if we all get along really well with our roommates, maybe we could form a second version of the Phoenix Club, like my parents and their friends did."

"That's a great idea," said June. "When our friends come over for your birthday party, let's ask Eileen or Neville who our roommates are going to be. They'll be able to see the room assignments, since they've got parents who are teachers at the school, and by that time everything would be finalized."

Harry agreed with this idea, and when they finished breakfast, ran upstairs to their respective rooms to write to their friends, asking if they'd gotten their acceptance letters too. Within two days, they got letters back from all their friends, saying that they had gotten their letters, and expressing their delight over finally being able to attend Nightwind School.

* * *

Kalea Allen was sitting in front of a loom, weaving her first rug under the tutelage of her paternal grandmother, who was Navajo. Her paternal grandfather, who was from the Choctaw nation (which was why her last name was Allen, since her ancestors had been forced to take on English names), came into the room, a small smile on his face. "Kalea, your acceptance letter to Nightwind School just arrived," he said, holding out the envelope.

Kalea quickly set down the weaving stick she was using and took the letter eagerly. There was no question of her attending any other magical school, as her paternal family had gone to Nightwind School ever since they'd gotten acceptance letters back in the late 1700's. While the Muggle government might have forced the Native Americans off of their land and onto reservations and did everything possible to get them to assimilate into white culture, Nightwind School had never done so. While there was little they could do against the government, since the wizarding world wasn't supposed to interfere with the Muggle one, they had never forced the Native American students to assimilate, and in fact included lessons about Native American culture in the World Culture class.

"This is wonderful," Kalea's grandmother said in the Navajo language. "You will be off at Nightwind School, learning magic and meeting new people."

Kalea nodded, for so far, she had mainly met or interacted with people from the Navajo and Choctaw nations, or those living in Hawaii, where her mother (who was native Hawaiian) was originally from. She had two close friends, but one didn't have magical ability, though she was aware of the wizarding world, like many Native Americans were, and the other was a year younger than her and wouldn't start Nightwind School until next year. Therefore, going away to school would enable her to meet new people, and she would likely become friends with her roommates, like her parents and grandparents had done when they had attended school.

"When your parents come home from work, we shall tell them the good news," her grandfather said. "Now, I will let you get back to your weaving. If you finish the rug in time, you can take it with you to school and hang it on the wall next to your bed as decoration."

* * *

Dean Thomas's eyes widened as Professor Freeman explained things to him. He had known ever since he was eight that his biological father had disappeared when he was a baby and his mother had no idea what had happened. Now Dean was told that he was a wizard, that his father had been one too (and in fact had been an alum of Nightwind School), and from what Professor Freeman had been able to discover, his father had been killed for refusing to become a follower of an evil wizard who called himself Lord Voldemort. The reason why Dean and his mother had no idea about this was because his father had wanted to protect them.

"Well, that explains things," said Mrs. Thomas. "I had wondered about the strange things Dean had done, and how Michael seemed worried or secretive at times. Well, if Dean is a wizard, and is invited to attend the same school that Michael went to, I can hardly say no. Dean, how do you feel about this?"

Dean thought it over. Knowing that his biological father hadn't abandoned him, but instead wanted to protect him and his mother and ended up killed, changed his previous opinion on the man. While he saw his stepfather as a real father, it was nice to know that his biological father had also cared about him. Also, going to a school where he would learn to master his magical abilities sounded interesting. "I would like to attend Nightwind School, Professor Freeman."

"Wonderful," said Professor Freeman, beaming. She handed him three books, one that was a history of Nightwind School and the other two explaining further about the wizarding world, and a list of the subjects that were taught at school. She explained the subjects, then the monetary system that the wizarding world used, and finally set up a payment method for the school fees, which in the Thomases' case was only two hundred pounds a year. (While they weren't poor, neither were they that well off, and Dean had two half-sisters that also needed to be provided for.) After ascertaining that there were no more questions, and explaining how they could contact the school if one came up later, Professor Freeman took her leave.

* * *

Frank Chung was sitting in the living room of his family home, watching an episode of _Star Trek: The Next Generation_, with his friend Peter O'Hagan, who was a year younger than him and he only saw when Peter was visiting his maternal grandparents's family. Both boys had an interest in science fiction, though in Peter's case, it was because his parents loved the genre and made sure that their children were exposed to it.

"Ugh, I hate the Duras sisters," said Peter, making a face. "I really hope they don't succeed with the civil war they're plotting."

As the show switched to commercials, Frank said, "Well, I'm not going to be able to see if it does or doesn't, since this is the season finale and it's a two-part episode. By the time part two airs, since it's the start of a new season, I'll be in Nightwind School. If I'm lucky, I might be able to catch a rerun of it next summer, but I'd be better off having you watch it and write to me what happened."

"I'll do that," Peter promised. "But I wish I could go to Nightwind School, instead of having to wait until next year. At least I've got my friends in Windmere Primary School, so I'll be with them. You, on the other hand..."

Frank nodded, for his parents (who were both Muggleborn), had chosen to send him to the local elementary school for his early education. While he had made a couple of friends there, they were Muggles, and lately they had drifted apart, since Frank knew he wasn't going to junior high with them. All they knew was that he was going to attend the same private boarding school his parents had gone to, which was not located in their state, California.

"Frank, you've got mail," Mrs. Chung said, coming into the living room. "Judging from the envelope, I would say it's your acceptance letter."

"It's arrived?" exclaimed Frank, looking excited as he bolted to his feet. He practically snatched the envelope from his mother's hand and tore it open. He quickly scanned the first piece of paper, which had the acceptance, and then glanced at the second, which was the supplies list. "Oh goody. Mom, can you write back for me, saying I'll be attending? The commercial break just ended."

"Of course, Frank," said Mrs. Chung, and she left the room, while Frank and Peter's attention returned to the episode.

* * *

Mikhail Fedorovich was reading a book when an owl flew in the open window. He looked up, startled, and saw that a letter was attached to its leg. He quickly removed the letter, grabbed a few owl treats that he had on hand for his own owl, and gave them to the one that had delivered the letter. The owl quickly gobbled down the treats, hooted in thanks, and then flew out the window again.

Mikhail glanced down at the letter and he grew excited when he saw the crest of Nightwind School on the envelope. Opening it confirmed that it was his acceptance letter and he opened the door of his room to shout in Russian, "Mother! Father! I just got my acceptance letter to Nightwind School."

Mrs. Fedorovich came up the stairs. "That's wonderful, Mikhail, but you don't need to shout," she said in English. While she understood Russian perfectly well, she was more comfortable with English and Yiddish, as she was originally from Israel, and was Jewish.

"Sorry, _Muter_," said Mikhail, switching to English, but using the Yiddish word for mother. "I just got excited."

"I can understand that," said Mrs. Fedorovich. "Anyway, your father went out a few minutes ago for buy groceries, but when he gets back, you can tell him the good news. I'll send out a note letting the school know that you'll be attending, not that there's any chance of you attending another school."

Mikhail made a face. "I certainly don't want to attend Durmstrang, and Koldovstoretz may be closer to home, but it won't be as great as Nightwind School is. Even if they do play a form of Quidditch on enchanted uprooted trees and not brooms."

Mrs. Fedorovich had to laugh at that. While her husband had attended Nightwind School, his grandfather had attended Koldovstoretz, which was located somewhere in Russia. While he had been slightly disappointed that his son and grandson had decided to attend Nightwind School instead, he had gotten over it, since the school did have a good reputation, and settled for reminiscing about his own school years, which was why Mikhail knew some things about Koldovstoretz.

"Well, I know you're going to have a good time, like your father and I did. You'll probably end up becoming close friends with your roommates, like we did."

"I hope so," said Mikhail. He had been homeschooled, and the only wizarding children he had interacted with had been his cousins. "I'm going to get back to my book now, _Muter_."

* * *

"Veronica, a letter arrived for you!" called Mrs. Gatti.

Veronica left her bedroom, where she had been practicing the violin, and skipped down the stairs. "Is it my acceptance letter?" she asked, for she knew that it was around the time that the Nightwind School letters were sent out, as it was the latter half of June.

"Since it has the school crest on the envelope, I would say it is," said Mrs. Gatti with a smile. "I remember when I got mine. Of course, I also had Father Vasquez explaining everything to me, since I was the first one in my family to have magic, and assuring my parents that it wasn't evil witchcraft. He had to do the same for your father, since he was the same situation as me, Muggleborn and raised in a Catholic family."

"I know, you and Papa have told me the story many times," said Veronica, opening the letter and looking at the supplies list. "I cannot wait to attend school and meet other witches and wizards that aren't family or your friends."

* * *

Leilani Roxas gave a start of surprise as an owl flew in through her open bedroom window. "That's odd," she muttered to herself. "I don't normally get owl post - wait, it is around the time that the acceptance letters are sent out." She got up and removed the letter attached to the owl's leg, which proved to be her acceptance letter from Nightwind School. "Wait a minute," she said to the owl, and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from her desk. She quickly wrote a note, saying that she had gotten her letter and was going to attend, then folded it up and attached it to the owl's leg. Before it took off, she gave it some water from a pitcher she had on her nightstand, and the cracker she had left over from her afternoon snack.

Once the owl was gone, Leilani picked up her acceptance letter and went to find her parents. "Mama, Papa, I got my acceptance letter," she said in Tagalog, the main language of the Philippines, where her family lived.

"That's wonderful, Leilani," said Mr. Roxas with a broad smile. "Did you send a reply back saying that you were attending, or do you need us to help you with that?"

"I had the owl wait and I sent off my reply with it, Papa," said Leilani.

"Then we don't need to do that," said Mrs. Roxas. "Well, I'm going to get started on a celebratory dinner for tonight." She got up and went to the kitchen.

"I wish I could attend Nightwind School," said Leilani's younger brother, Stephen.

"Don't worry, in two years you'll be old enough to attend, Stephen," said Mr. Roxas.

"But it's still two years," said Stephen, making a face.

"Celia also has to wait two years," Leilani pointed out, referring to their cousin. "So you'll have her to keep you company,"

Stephen admitted that was true, and Leilani then returned to her room.

Author's Note: As the chapter shows, readers are introduced to the future roommates of Harry and his friends as they get their acceptance letters to Nightwind School. The episode of _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ that Frank and Peter are watching is the season 4 finale, "Redemption, Part one." Koldovstoretz, a magical school located in Russia, is mentioned in Wonderbook: Book of Potions. According to the 2014 editions of the _Harry Potter_ books, they play a version of Quidditch where they fly on uprooted trees instead of brooms. The third grade teacher's name is a reference to Ms. Frizzle, the teacher in the _Magic School Bus_ book series and TV show.


	10. Chapter 10

Harry and his friends were gathered in the rec center of Windmere, playing a game of Monopoly. Other than the play money being changed to read as Galleons, it was otherwise identical to the American edition. While Ron took his turn, Arista said, "I almost can't believe that in two week's time it'll be Orientation Week and we'll be at Nightwind School. Ron, I own Baltic Avenue and have one house on it, so you owe me twenty Galleons."

Ron handed over the appropriate money, while June, who was acting as banker, gave him his two hundred Galleon salary for passing Go. "Draco, it's your turn," he said. "Anyway, it'll be interesting being at Nightwind School. We'll get to learn magic spells, and meet new people."

Draco nodded as he rolled a seven and moved his car token to the Just Visiting section of the Jail space. "Our group is great and all, but expanding it could be useful. We could do what your parents and their friends did, like you suggested, Harry, and be the second Phoenix Club. Arista, it's your turn."

"If our roommates are fine with it, then we'd have sixteen people in it like in the original group," said Harry. "By the way, do any of you know anything about our roommates? All I know is that Anthony Goldstein is Jewish and Muggleborn, because Uncle Kurt told me about going to give him his letter. And that Frank Chung is of Chinese descent, from California, likes science-fiction, and is pretty good friends with Peter O'Hagan."

"Well, Hermione Granger is Muggleborn too," said Eileen. "Mum was the one to give her the letter and explain the wizarding world to her."

"All I know is that Kalea Allen is Native American," said Neville. "And where the others are from. Veronica Gatti is from Italy, Mikhail Fedorovich is from Russia, I mean the Ukraine, Dean Thomas is British like Hermione and Anthony, and apparently black, and Leilani Roxas is from the Philippines."

"Right, Ukraine recently split off from Russia and became its own country," said June. "Mr. Sato mentioned that during geography class. Anyway, we'll just have to get know our roommates. I'm sure they'll be nice people, and we'll learn more about other countries and cultures."

There was a knock on the door and Stella called, "Come in!" The door opened and two women stepped inside. One was Headmistress Nakamura, while the other they recognized as one of their upcoming first year teachers, Professor Chavez.

"Hello," said Headmistress Nakamura. "We're sorry to interrupt your play, but we need to speak to you. It's mostly about you, Harry, but what we have to discuss can affect your friends as well."

The two teachers sat down on the couch, while the eight preteens straightened up from their places on the floor. "Harry, I take it you know about what happened with your parents and why you're famous in the wizarding world?" Professor Chavez asked.

Harry nodded. He had known, ever since he was old enough to understand what death was, that his parents had been killed by an evil wizard, which was why he lived with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Tau. After he'd turned nine, however, when he was presumably old enough to fully understand, his godparents had sat him and June down and explained about the Voldemort, the war, and why and how his parents had been killed.

"Well, so far, you have had little exposure to your fame," said Professor Chavez. "Your main exposure to the wizarding world has been through what your parents' friends have told you and the goings-on in Windmere, where the people here know better than to make a fuss over your fame. Your friends know the real you and don't treat you any differently from any other person of their age that they like."

"And when you have visited the wizarding areas of other countries, or been to Diagon Alley, the people around you didn't know who you were," added Headmistress Nakamura. "But once you start school, that is secondary school, that is going to change. The other students will be aware of who you are, since your survival of the Killing Curse and appearing to be the main cause of Voldemort's defeat is known worldwide, at least among witches and wizards. Even the Muggleborns will know, since the war against Voldemort, and you in particular, comprises a couple of chapters in _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_, which is given to every Muggleborn student to read upon being notified about the wizarding world."

"So I'm going to have a lot of people gawp at my scar and ask me for autographs?" Harry asked.

"Students wanting to a glimpse of your scar is a great possibility," said Professor Chavez. "And I'm sure there will be whispers about you. But I doubt you will get many people asking for your autograph, except maybe among the other first years that don't know any better. The older students should know better, and the prefects and Head Boy and Girl won't pester you and do what they can to help prevent students from bothering you."

"You don't have to worry about your roommates," said Headmistress Nakamura. "When doing the room assignments, we made sure that yours were sensible people that wouldn't make too big a fuss of your fame and can get to know the real you, not the image presented in history books. The same goes for your friends, since the staff figured that you'd want to be friends with your roommates, like pretty much every student at Nightwind School has done."

"But how would you know if they were sensible people, Headmistress Nakamura?" asked Arista. "All right, you might be able to tell with Dean Thomas, Hermione Granger, and Anthony Goldstein, because they had to be met and told about the wizarding world, but the others are different."

"We do know who their parents are," Professor Chavez pointed out. "Therefore, we have some idea as to how their children will be raised. Mikhail Fedorovich, for example, has a father that is well-known in Russia, since he played on the Russian National Team before retiring a couple years ago. Therefore, Mikhail has some idea of what it's like to fussed over due to fame, and knows not to act that way to another that is famous, or a child of a famous person. Kalea Allen is half Native American and half native Hawaiian, and both cultures are known for not making as a big a deal over famous people compared to other cultures. Yes, they have legends of great heroes and respect those that are well-known, but they don't unnecessarily fawn over them."

"The point is that we want you to be prepared for some hero-worship among the other students, Harry," Headmistress Nakamura said. "At least until they get to know you, or it's explained to them in history class that it was your parents' sacrifice that enabled you to survive. Now, are you aware of the prophecy that was made about Voldemort's possible defeat?"

Harry nodded. "Uncle Sirius and Aunt Fiona told me about it. Me, Neville, Eileen, or Stella could have fit the prophecy, but Voldemort decided to go after me. Uncle Lucius says it's because Voldemort thought a boy would be more able to defeat him, and out of me and Neville, I was a halfblood like him and still in Britain. Aunt Amina also told me about a prophetic dream she had, where Voldemort would mark the person fated to defeat him once and for all, baring something bad happening to me that would prevent it."

"Well, from what we've gathered, along with Headmaster Dumbledore and few others that were part of his group that fought in the war, Voldemort was defeated, but he's not dead," said Headmistress Nakamura. "At some point his spirit will regain a body and he will return to power, unless we manage to find out and destroy every single thing he made to try and prevent death."

Harry and his friends looked confused. After the two teachers exchanged looks, Professor Chavez explained, "There is a ritual that can be done that allows a person to split their soul and place the soul fragment in an object. It is a very Dark ritual, since it requires the person to commit murder in order to fragment their soul. Headmistress Nakamura and Headmaster Dumbledore was able to come into possession of one of Voldemort's soul objects and was able to destroy but, but from what we have been told, more than one or two was made. We have been searching, but so far only found one more and destroyed it."

Harry, June, and Arista looked shocked, while the others had various looks of horror or disgust on their faces. "How many could have been made?" Eileen asked.

"We don't know, except that it was more than two or three," said Headmistress Nakamura. "We do have a theory that he made six, so that his soul would be in seven pieces, as seven is a significant number. But we don't know exactly where he would have hidden them all, or what they could all be. The first one Headmaster Dumbledore and I destroyed was a diary that Voldemort had bought while he was in school, and the second one was a ring that we found hidden in the remains of the home that his mother's family had lived in. Incidentally, we also discovered the ring was one of the Deathly Hallows, but apparently Voldemort had no idea, and from what we've figured out, his mother's family apparently had no idea either and just saw it as a family heirloom."

"The ring was the Resurrection Stone?" June asked, looking rather shocked. Her friends had similar looks on their faces.

Headmistress Nakamura nodded. "After I destroyed it with a goblin-made dagger I had borrowed from the goblins at the Windmere Bank, Headmaster Dumbledore and I examined the ring and saw the symbol of the Hallows on it. I was able to summon the shade of my mother, and Headmaster Dumbledore summoned the shade of one of his dead relatives, which confirmed it. In any case, we are actively looking for the other soul objects, but it is highly likely that we not find them all before Voldemort finds some way to return to power. Therefore, you could end up fulfilling the prophecy, Harry."

Harry made a face. "So I've got to either kill Voldemort, or he could kill me. Stupid prophecy. If Uncle Lucius hadn't been asked to spy on an interview, then Voldemort wouldn't have found out about the prophecy and none of this would have happened."

"Uh, Harry, if Voldemort hadn't gone after you, then the war might still be going on," Ron pointed out hesitantly.

"You're right," admitted Harry. "I'm glad the war is over for now, but that still doesn't mean I want to be an orphan, even if Aunt Petunia and Uncle Tau are great and like parents to me, or that I have to kill Voldy or be killed by him."

"I'm very sorry that such a burden was placed on you," said Professor Chavez sympathetically. "But since it was, Headmistress Nakamura and I felt that you should at least know what's going on, and your aunt and uncle and godparents all felt the same. Since your friends are important to you, and based on what Professor Freeman, one of the Divination teachers, Saw years ago, they would help you, we decided to let them know as well. However, none of you are not to tell anyone else about any of this, other than your roommates if you become friends with them and find them trustworthy. Professor Freeman saw a group of sixteen people that were friends, the potential prophecy children among them, working together to defeat Voldemort."

Instead of looking pleased, Harry looked horrified. "I am not having my friends be involved! It's bad enough that my parents died because Voldemort decided to target me, and all those other people in the Order died fighting him, including Ron's uncles and Aunt Fiona's sister. There's a reason why Arista's middle name is Bridget. I don't want my friends dying, or getting hurt, because they want to help me defeat Voldemort."

"Harry, you're not going to talk us out of it," Eileen said firmly. "Have you forgotten that my grandmother, my namesake, died because of a Death Eater attack on Diagon Alley? Just for that, I'd want to fight against Voldemort and his followers."

"Regardless of what happens, we're standing with you," said Neville bravely. "Remember, I was one of the prophecy children, and if my parents hadn't decided to move to Windmere and take teaching positions, I could have been in the same position you're in."

"Don't forget about all those books we read," Draco added. "The hero may be the one to face the bad guy and defeat him, but the hero's friends helped him get there, and fought the underlings. You remember the _Redwall_ books that Mr. Sato had us read. Matthias may have been the one to defeat Cluny by dropping a large bell on him, but Matthias's friends and allies fought the vermin that Cluny had gathered under his banner."

Harry had to admit that his friends had a point. "Fine, but I really wish you would stay out of it."

"That's not happening, Harry," said Stella. "Like Nev said, we're standing with you no matter what happens. I bet our future roommates will say the same once we've become friends with them."

"All right, all right," said Harry in defeat. "You're all your own people and can do what you want. Thank you for bringing us up to date, Headmistress Nakamura and Professor Chavez."

"You're welcome," said Headmistress Nakamura. "We'll let you return to your game." The two teachers rose and left the room.

Harry and his friends resumed their Monopoly game, but this time they talked about what had just been revealed to them.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: June had said that her Aunt Makena was the fourth grade teacher, but by the time June's class had started fourth-grade, Makena was on maternity leave. Therefore, this is why they had Mr. Carmichael, since he took over teaching fourth-grade for the year.

Harry sat in the third row of the Assembly Hall, with Ron, Neville, and Draco on his right side and June, Eileen, Stella, and Arista on his left. "Isn't it exciting to finally be a student at Nightwind School?" June asked.

Harry nodded in agreement. The adults in their lives had told them to just focus on school and living their lives, and not worry about Voldemort or his eventual return until it actually happened. So for the time being, the eight had put what Headmistress Nakamura and Professor Chavez had told them out of their mind, other than the warning that some of the other students could make a big deal of Harry's fame.

"We should sit with out roommates at lunch so we can get to know them," Draco suggested. "Since Anthony Goldstein is Jewish, we'll have to make sure we sit by the kosher dishes."

"Oh look, the other students are arriving," Ron said, turning his head to look at the group of seven students making their way into the room. More students trickled in during the next ten minutes, until all one hundred thirty-five first-years were present. There was a couple of minutes of the last group of people finding seats, and then silence reigned as Headmistress Nakamura and Deputy Headmaster Ihejirika appeared at the front dais.

"Good morning, new students," said Headmistress Nakamura. "I am Headmistress Hikari Nakamura and I also teach the class on Japanese culture. Welcome to Nightwind School of Magic. In case any of you are wondering, there is a translation spell on the school so that you will hear anything spoken to you in your native language until you are fluent in English."

"Hello, I am Deputy Headmaster Oluchi Ihejirika," said the tall black man in his mid-sixties next to her. "I am also one of the teachers of the World Culture class, focusing on African culture." He then gestured at the group of staff that had filed out behind him. "We have many teachers, but these are the ones that you will deal with the most this year, as they teach the first-years."

The first-year teachers introduced themselves one by one, followed by the librarians, Harry's godmother Aunt Claire as the school Healer, religious staff (four of whom also helped out as the auxiliary Healers or Mediwitch and wizard), and the groundskeepers. Harry and his friends didn't pay much attention to this, as they already knew all the staff, or at least recognized who they were. They also didn't pay too much attention to the tour of the school, as they were quite familiar with it, and just stuffed the maps they had been given in their pockets.

After the tour, the students returned to the Assembly Hall, were they were all asked to introduce themselves and state where they were from. Harry and his friends paid close attention to this, as they needed to know who their roommates were, and they wanted to get to know the other students a bit. There were several gasps when Harry introduced himself, and a number of students craned their heads to get a good look at him and murmured to each other. There was more murmurs when Eileen introduced herself and said yes, she was descended from the founders of the school, as her last name implied.

Following that was lunch. Only the staff table and the first-year table was occupied in the Dining Hall, since the rest of the school wasn't due to arrive until three days later, on Thursday. Harry and his friends sought out their roommates, explaining that they wanted to get to know them, and the sixteen of them sat down at one end of the table, where the kosher and halal dishes were located.

"I doubt you remember all our names among all the ones that were said today," June said. "So we're going to go over them again for you guys. I'm Juniper Okoro, June for short. That's my cousin, Harry Potter." Hermione and Anthony gasped again, and Dean frowned as if he had heard the name somewhere, but couldn't recall where. Leilani and Kalea exchanged looks, while Mikhail and Frank looked mildly impressed. Veronica's eyes flicked briefly to Harry's scar, but she otherwise didn't show any reaction.

"You're _Harry Potter_?" exclaimed Hermione, eyes wide. "I read about you in _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_! You're the one that somehow defeated the Dark Lord as a toddler and –"

"That's where I read your name!" Dean interrupted. "I thought it sounded familiar. Er, not to be rude or anything, but how are you and June cousins? You're white, while she's black, or at least mixed."

"It's all right," said Harry. "You're not the only one that has wondered. June's mum, my Aunt Petunia, was sisters with my mum. Her dad, my Uncle Tau, is from South Africa and is the older brother of my Aunt Makena. She's not really my aunt, I just call her that since she was friends with my parents. And Hermione, yes, I'm Harry Potter, but I prefer not to make a big deal of my fame. My parents died in the incident that made me famous, for one thing, and I wish I could have gotten to know them."

"I'm sorry, Harry," Hermione apologized. "I wasn't thinking about that when I spoke."

"Apology accepted," said Harry, smiling. "Anyway, to continue with the introductions, these are my god-sisters, Arista Black and Eileen Prince-Nightwind. Of their group of friends, Arista's parents were my dad's best friends and Eileen's parents were my mum's, so they made them joint godparents. Due to the war against Voldemort, my parents felt it would be best to have back-up in case something happened."

Before Hermione could ask, Eileen said, "Yes, my mother is the Healer Nightwind-Prince that gave you your acceptance letter and explained all about the wizarding world, Hermione."

Arista continued, "This is Stella Black, my cousin, and the three guys there are Draco Malfoy, Neville Longbottom, and Ron Weasley. Draco is my and Stella's second cousin, since his mother, our Aunt Narcissa, and our dads are cousins. Neville and Ron are our friends since we attended the primary school in Windmere together, but they otherwise have no close relations to us. Their parents weren't in the same year as ours, and they can only claim distant cousin-ship at best to some of us."

The other eight introduced themselves. Hermione, Anthony, and Dean were British, the latter also being black, and all of them were raised in the Muggle world, though only Hermione and Anthony were Muggleborn. Dean was actually a halfblood, though he hadn't known that until after Professor Freeman had given him his letter and explained about the wizarding world. His father, who had been an alum of Nightwind School, hadn't told his Muggle wife about the wizarding world and had left her and their infant son for their protection before he'd been killed by Voldemort's followers for opposing them.

Frank was of Chinese descent, and grew up in California in the United States. Kalea's mother was mostly native Hawaiian, while her father was mixed Navajo and Choctaw. She divided her time between Hawaii, the Navajo reservation in New Mexico (where her paternal grandmother had grown up in), and the Choctaw reservation in Oklahoma (where her paternal grandfather had grown up in). Mikhail was from Ukraine, though his mother was originally from Israel. Through his mother, he was Jewish, and he had decided to follow Judaism instead of the Eastern Orthodox Church that his father was part of. Veronica was Italian, both her parents had been Muggleborn, and she was raised a Catholic. Leilani was a halfblood and from the Philippines, though she had Polynesian and Samoan ancestry as well, and probably a little bit of Spanish ancestry, since Spain had once ruled the country.

Further conversation proved that Hermione was a bookworm, though she tended to read more non-fiction than fiction, and had a thirst for knowledge, and Anthony was the same. Frank also enjoyed reading, though in his case, it was science-fiction. Leilani was also a bookworm, but unlike Hermione and Anthony, she only read non-fiction books when she had to or if the subject interested her, and preferred fiction, especially Muggle fantasy. Mikhail enjoyed Quidditch, though he said he wasn't as good as his father, but he probably was good enough to play on a school team.

"Oh yeah, didn't your father play on the Russian National Team?" Ron asked. Seeing Mikhail's surprised look, Ron hastily said, "One of the teachers mentioned it to us when we got to see our room assignments, as a way to reassure Harry that he wasn't the only one who had exposure to fame."

"I see," said Mikhail, making a face. "It was very annoying to not be able to go out in public, at least in the Russian wizarding world, without having people asking my father for an autograph or members of the press wanting to know what the family was up to or trying to take pictures. The only times we weren't bothered was when my parents put Glamour Charms on all of us as a disguise, and they couldn't do that all the time."

"That sucks," said Harry. "I grew up in the Muggle world and most of my exposure to the wizarding world was through attending Windmere primary school and visiting the town, where the teachers and residents knew better than to make a fuss over my fame. The few times I did visit other wizarding places, like Diagon Alley or the wizarding section of Tokyo, nobody knew who I was, and my scar was hidden. I suppose I'll have to make a public appearance at some point, though, since people are going to realize that I'm old enough to attend wizarding school and will expect to see me out and about in public."

"Oh, don't worry about that," said Eileen. "Mum said that a couple of reporters that are alumni of the school will take a couple of photos of you when we get our school supplies tomorrow, and write up a short article for the _Daily Prophet_ and _The Quibbler_ saying that you're attending Nightwind School. I expect Mr. Lovegood will want to ask you a couple of questions, too. That will satisfy British readers, and the rest of the world can use that."

"That's fine," said Harry. "I don't mind if Luna's father interviews me." For the benefit of their roommates, he explained, "Luna Lovegood is a year younger than us and a friend of Ron's sister, Ginny, and Eileen's brother, Keith. Her father is the editor of a magazine called _The Quibbler_, which likes to print articles about strange theories and magical creatures that may or may not exist. It has entertainment value, even if it's not very accurate or newsworthy usually."

"And the _Daily Prophet_ is the main wizarding newspaper in Britain," Arista added. "It has a Sunday edition called the _Sunday Prophet_, and if something noteworthy happens, it will print an evening edition called the _Evening Prophet_."

Dean, Anthony, and Hermione looked interested to hear this, and Arista and Stella explained a few other British wizarding publications, like the main magazine _Witch Weekly_, and _Transfiguration Today_, which was the wizarding equivalent of a Muggle science journal. June added that when her Uncle Yun (who was the second year Transfiguration teacher) got his Mastery in Transfiguration, the thesis he wrote was published in _Transfiguration Today_, and then had to explain that her father's sister had married a wizard of Chinese descent at the puzzled looks that the three Muggle-raised students had.

"You're going to find that a lot of students have mixed parentage," Neville said. "Since the school has students from all over the world, most of them end up falling in love and marrying anyone, regardless of where they're originally from."

"Like my brother and I are one quarter-Chinese, since my maternal grandmother is Chinese," said Eileen. "She's the Astronomy teacher for the sixth and seventh year students, and also teaches the class for any students that signed up to learn Chinese as their foreign language."

"And my ancestors originated from all over Europe," said Draco. "The original Malfoy that settled in Britain came over with William the Conqueror, so we've got French ancestry, and ever since Cressida and Justus Malfoy decided to attend Nightwind School over Hogwarts, we've been marrying fellow students that we fell in love with."

Anthony raised a brow. "I have no problem with it, but I don't know how my parents would react if I married someone that wasn't Jewish."

Stella said, "Well, couldn't the girl convert? Aunt Nicole wasn't Jewish to begin with, but she converted when she married Uncle Kurt. That's Rabbi Freidrich, by the way. He and Aunt Nicole are my godparents."

"Religion isn't an issue with the students here," Eileen added. "Of my godparents, Aunt Amina is Muslim, but Uncle Remus isn't religious at all, though he'd probably identify with Christianity if asked. They've got no problems with that."

"Well, I'm not planning on dating anyone, much less getting married, anytime soon," said Anthony, "so I'll just deal with my parents when the time comes. Anyway, Rabbi Freidrich explained about the various dishes at meals, being able to go to your place of worship, and everyone is supposed to be accepting, but are there any other allowances made for students of any religion?"

"Well, Jewish students are exempt from classes during the High Holy Days," said Stella. "They'll still have to do the homework, of course, and their friends will lend them the notes they took in class, but they won't have to go to class on Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. Other religions or cultures with similar holidays also get the day off. Like those that celebrate the Lunar New Year, which is mostly the Asians, they get the day off from classes."

Anthony nodded, and then the conversation turned to the school clubs and other extracurricular activities. Leilani and Anthony said that they wouldn't mind joining the Book Club. Eileen planned on joining the Potions Club, as she had inherited her father's love of brewing. Harry and Draco both planned on trying out for the school Quidditch teams, since they had heard from Fred and George Weasley that the Ruby team's Seeker had graduated the previous school year, and the Emerald team needed a reserve Seeker and a new Chaser. Ron was joining the Chess Club, since he was very good at it, and beat his friends every time they played (except for when they all been beginners, in which Arista had won once and the rest had ended up stalemates and draws). The others were still deciding on which club they wished to sign up for.

After lunch, the room assignments were given out and everyone went to get settled in their rooms. Harry's roommates were Ron, Anthony, and Mikhail. The four of them opened their trunks, put their clothes and anything else they didn't want to keep in their trunks in the two closets, their respective drawers in the four bureaus, and the bookcase, and their toiletries in the connected bathroom. After that, the other three answered Anthony's questions about the wizarding world and Nightwind School, which was mostly clarifying what he had read in the three books that Rabbi Freidrich had given him. Knowing that Anthony was genuinely curious and had a thirst for knowledge, and not because he was making a big deal of someone famous, Harry was willing to tell him what happened the night Voldemort was defeated, based on what he had been told about it.

"_Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_ made it sound like the Dark Lord killed your parents, then tried to kill you, but couldn't," Anthony said with a frown. "It didn't mention anything about your parents' sacrifice making it possible, or that the Dark Lord tricked your parents into being there in that field."

"Do you really think my parents or their friends would have wanted to make it public knowledge that Voldemort put a spell on one of them to make the plan work?" Harry asked. "They preferred to make it sound like Voldemort got wind of their attempt to move to Windmere and took them out. You know that they're going to be stupid people who won't believe that my parents' friend was being controlled magically and blame him for the deaths."

"Right," said Anthony, flushing. "I didn't think about that. But what about the book not mentioning your parents' sacrifice making your survival possible?"

"It's not a hundred percent confirmed, it's just what Headmaster Dumbledore of Hogwarts guessed what happened based on what he saw, and the other witnesses agreed with him," Harry replied. "And I certainly don't remember anything about that night, other than some flashes of green light, which I'm told were the Killing Curses, since that's what color the spell takes."

"The book also didn't mention what happened to you after that night," Anthony added. "I presume that you grew up with your aunt and uncle on your mother's side, of course, since you're close to your cousin June and the book did say that your father had no close relatives. I guess where you lived wasn't well-known, to keep you from being bothered by people in the wizarding world only interested in your fame?"

Harry nodded. "Aunt Petunia and Uncle Tau, plus my godparents, wanted me to have as normal a childhood as any witch or wizard could have. I knew I was famous, but other than my friends making a few jokes about it once or twice, I've never really dealt with the consequences of that. Professor Chavez, who's the Head of the first-years, had to warn me a couple of weeks ago that there would be students who might make a big deal of my fame, just so I could be prepared once school started."

"Well, you don't need to worry about me and Anthony doing it," said Mikhail. "And from what I've seen of your friends' roommates, they won't either."

At dinner, each person was given a handbook which listed the school rules. The first and foremost was that teasing and bullying (other than friendly teasing among friends) was not allowed, especially any about another student's race, religion, culture, or bloodline. The other rules were pretty much what would be found in any school, such as being respectful to teachers, no fighting, and everyone having to be in their rooms at ten o'clock at night, unless there was an emergency or a staff member gave them permission to be out after curfew.

Harry brought up his idea of forming a second Phoenix Club once they'd all looked through the handbook, and the others were interested in the idea. Hermione, in fact, looked touched that she was invited to be part of a group of friends. After some questions, she admitted that back in primary school, she had been teased for being a bookworm and teacher's pet, and having odd events (which she now knew was bouts of accidental magic) happen around her didn't help any, so she hadn't made any friends, other than the sort that wanted to use her for homework help. Luckily she had caught on to that quickly, especially when those students wanted her to do their work for them, which was something she refused to do.

"That's awful," said Kalea indignantly. "Well, that's not going to happen at Nightwind School. And if it does, the students making fun of you will be punished, and we're going to stand up for you."

"Thank you, guys," said Hermione, looking surprised and touched by this, as the others backed up what Kalea had said.

After dinner, everyone returned to their rooms, and by ten o'clock, they had all gone to bed.


	12. Chapter 12

The next day, the first years went to Windmere to get their school supplies. Professor Mills, the first year Charms teacher, was in charge of the group consisting of Harry and his friends. The first stop, as usual, was at the bank. Harry and June joined Hermione, Dean, and Anthony at the exchange counter to exchange their pounds for Galleons, though Harry also went down to the vault his parents had left him to withdraw some extra spending money. The others either had the spending money their parents gave them, or they retrieved money from their own or their family's vaults.

After that, the group went to Magical Robes for their school uniform. Stella's maternal grandparents ran the store, and therefore she was given her school robes, gloves, and winter scarf for free, while everyone else got the student discount of ten percent. When they were done, the group headed next door to the Book Corner, which was run by the parents of Harry's Uncle Yun. Anthony selected a couple of extra books in addition to the ones required on the supplies list. Hermione, however, gathered up about twenty extra books, but Professor Mills made her put most of them back.

"Miss Granger, if you were to buy all these extra books, you wouldn't have enough money left for the rest of your school supplies. Also, the school has a large library and you would be able to find and check out all of them there. Just pick out a few and put the rest back."

With a sigh, Hermione did as told and only bought five extra books. Once the books were paid for, they went to Spelled Stationary, for the writing supplies. Mr. Lovegood and a woman that introduced herself as Sylvia Parsons, a reporter for the _Daily Prophet_ showed up at that point and took a couple of pictures of Harry buying his school supplies. The two then wished Harry a successful school year and left him to his school shopping.

That was followed with a visit to Windmere Apothecary for potion supplies, and Charmed Cauldrons for pewter cauldrons. The next store after that was Magical Supplies for scales, telescopes for Astronomy, and the rest of the supplies on their list, besides the wand. Finally, the group headed to Nightwind Wands.

"So your family also runs the wand shop, Eileen?" asked Anthony.

Eileen shook her head. "Well, it was founded by Felicity Nightwind, sister of my many times great-grandfather Geoffrey. She studied wandmaking and wandlore under the Ollivander family, who are the premier wandmakers in Britain. However, when she died, she left the shop to her main apprentice, Judith Selwyn, and the tradition has continued ever since. The current owner is Madam Marta Olafsen, and when she retires or dies, she'll probably leave her shop to her assistant, Ms. Tran."

Finding the right wand, however, wasn't necessarily easy. While Kalea only had to try a dozen wands before getting a match and Frank and Arista tried about twenty each before getting theirs, it took a bit longer for the others. Harry, in particular, couldn't seem to get a match at all. He did manage to produce a feeble spark when trying a holly wand, twelve inches, with a unicorn hair core, but it didn't really fit him. After an hour and a half, Madam Olafsen threw up her hands in defeat. "Mr. Potter, you've tried all the wands I have in stock, and none of them have chosen you. Either I have to make a custom wand for you, or I'll need to refer you to another wandmaker."

"Let's try the other wandmakers first before you make a custom wand, Madam Olafsen," Professor Mills said. "Come along, everyone." She led the way to Magical Menagerie, where June and Harry bought a snowy owl and Eileen got a black and white cat. After that, they returned to the school and put their school things away. Harry, however, was asked to just drop off his purchases, and then Professor Mills escorted him, via Portkey, to the main wandmaker in France, which was where the students of Beauxbatons primarily bought their wands.

However, none of the wands at that store chose Harry, though he did get a feeble spark from a mahogany wand with a phoenix feather core. With a loud sigh, Professor Mills altered the Portkey so that it would take them to Ollivander's Wand Shop in Diagon Alley, London. Mr. Ollivander was very surprised to see Harry, and was even more surprised when Professor Mills explained why they were there.

"So you've been to two wandmakers and haven't been able to find a wand that really chose you, Mr. Potter? I don't recall ever hearing of such a case before. No matter. I'm sure you will find a suitable wand here." Mr. Ollivander began taking down boxes of wands.

It took an hour, and Harry was beginning to wonder if he wouldn't find a wand at all and would need Madam Olafsen to make a custom wand for him. However, Mr. Ollivander finally took down one box and handed it to Harry. "Perhaps this will work. It's holly, eleven inches, with a phoenix feather core."

As soon as Harry picked up the wand, he felt a warmth running down his arm, and red and gold sparks shot out the tip. "Oh, bravo!" cried Mr. Ollivander in delight, while Harry was relieved to finally get his wand and Professor Mills looked happy that the search was over.

As Harry paid for his wand, however, Mr. Ollivander muttered, "Curious," and after being asked what was so curious, revealed that the phoenix that had given a feather for the core had also given another one, which was the core for the wand that You-Know-Who had.

"So Harry's wand and Voldemort's wand are brothers?" asked Professor Mills, frowning. "Hmm, I suppose it could turn out to be useful. I shall have to tell Headmistress Nakamura about this. I suppose you will notify Headmaster Dumbledore?"

Mr. Ollivander nodded, explaining that the phoenix, named Fawkes, was the one that had bonded to Professor Dumbledore. Harry tucked his new wand in his pocket, deciding that its connection to Voldemort couldn't be helped, and anyway, a wand was a wand. Professor Mills thanked Mr. Ollivander and then altered the Portkey to take her and Harry back to Windmere.

Since it was now past one o'clock, she took Harry to Windmere Inn for a belated lunch, as the school lunch hour was over. The two had an enjoyable lunch, with Professor Mills paying for them both, and then they stopped by Nightwind Wands to let Madam Olafsen know that Harry had found a suitable wand at Ollivander's.

"That's a relief," said Madam Olafsen. "Wait, he was the second outside wandmaker you went to? I have never heard of anyone requiring a visit to three wandmakers in order to get a wand that chose him or her. You must be very special, Mr. Potter."

"I guess," said Harry. "But Mr. Ollivander said that I share wand cores with Voldemort. Headmaster Dumbledore's phoenix was the one that provided the feathers for the two wands."

Madam Olafsen raised a brow. "Well, from what I know about wandlore, brother wands have a connection of sorts. There was one case when two students at Nightwind School had brother wands, and during a Defense class on dueling, the two were partnered. They each shot a spell simultaneously, and instead of the spells hitting their mark, they instead collided against each other and produced the effect of _Prior Incantum_, where the 'ghosts' of the spells they had done previously manifested until they broke the connection."

"So if Voldemort and I got into a duel, the same thing could happen to our wands?" Harry asked.

"Only if the two of you shot off spells at the same time, Mr. Potter," Madam Olafsen responded. "I'll look at my notes about brother wands and pass on any other information to Headmistress Nakamura, who can then tell you if you need to know."

Harry nodded and then he and Professor Mills returned to the school. The other first-years were gathered in the Assembly Room, getting to know each other, and Harry joined them, explaining that none of the wands in Nightwind Wands had chosen him and he had to go to Ollivander's in Britain for one. He didn't mention the connection his wand had with Voldemort's, since Harry didn't want anyone else (besides his friends) to know this.

The other students nodded, and then a first-year named Joseph Hinkley resumed what he was saying before he'd been interrupted by Harry's entrance. Joseph, who had said yesterday that he was from the state of Utah in the United States and was Muggleborn, was explaining that he was Mormon, or in other words, part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The LDS Church had been founded by Joseph Smith in New York State, during the 1820's, and the main body of the church first moved to Ohio, and then Missouri, before ending up in Illinois due to religious persecution. After he was killed by a mob, the Quorum (or Council) of the Twelve, led by Brigham Young, was elected as the church's leading body, and most of them left Illinois for the Great Salt Lake Valley, located in present-day Utah, to escape persecution.

A main difference between Mormons and other Christians was that the former had, in addition to the Bible, another religious text called the Book of Mormon, which Joseph Smith had translated from a set of golden plates that the angel Moroni led him to. The LDS Church originally had also practiced polygamy, which allowed a man to take more than one wife, but eventually stopped the practice after clashes with the American national government over the issue, though there were still some fundamentalist groups (who the main church avoided) that insisted on continuing it.

Several of the other first-years exchanged looks, and Veronica asked, "So what happened to the golden plates after Joseph Smith translated them?"

"He returned them to the Angel Moroni," Joseph replied. "Eleven men also saw the plates, and their testimony is printed with the Book of Mormon."

"I see," said Veronica, but she looked a little skeptical. "Erm, I suppose Joseph Smith wasn't allowed to show the golden plates to everyone at large?"

"I guess," said Joseph with a shrug. "I never really thought about it."

"So have other Mormons attended Nightwind School?" a first-year named Tewodros Conteh, who was African, asked.

Joseph shook his head. "According to Reverend van Herten, who gave me my letter and explained everything, I'm the first one. My great-great grandmother, back in the late 1800's, was accepted to the school, but she and her family rejected the idea of magic and refused to have anything to do with it, and had the teacher that went to see her bind her magic. The ability didn't pop up again in the family until I came along. There was another person in the early 1900's, but he chose to attend the magical school in America rather than go so far from home."

The others asked a few more questions about the religion, and then Harry was asked to take his turn to further introduce himself. He took the opportunity to introduce June as his cousin, and cleared up the misconceptions that people might have about the night Voldemort was defeated. He then explained that he and June had grown up in both the Muggle and wizarding worlds, as his aunt and uncle (and her parents) were Muggles, but they had attended Windmere Primary School and had visited wizarding areas like Diagon Alley.

Two and a half hours later, the session broke up for dinner, where Harry, in a quiet voice, told his friends about his wand and Voldemort's wand being brothers, and what Madam Olafsen had said about brother wands having a sort of connection. "Maybe the connection will be useful," said Kalea. "If the Dark Lord were to ever return, he'd probably want to go after you again, since he failed to kill you as a baby."

"That's what Professor Mills thinks," said Harry. "Anyway, Madam Olafsen is going to review her notes on the subject and pass on the information to Headmistress Nakamura, who will tell me if it's necessary for me to know. Let's talk about something else now."

Frank brought up the subject of their beginning classes, and the sixteen of them then had a discussion about what they'd be learning as they ate.

Author's Note: All I know about the LDS Church is what I learned in history class or taken from Wikipedia. I apologize if there are any inaccuracies. Joseph Hinkley is not going to be a major character and will be nothing more than one of Harry's classmates. My main reason for including him is to show students of all religions, not just the main ones, and a reviewer did ask if I was going to include a Mormon student, as the reviewer was Mormon.


	13. Chapter 13

The rest of the school arrived on Wednesday, and on Thursday morning, all the first years went back to the Assembly Hall and were introduced to the school prefects and the Head Boy and Girl. Among the fifth year prefects was Ron's brother, Percy, and one of the sixth-year prefects was Mikhail's cousin, Sabina Fedorovich. After that, they left so the second years could be introduced to their teachers for the year, and reported to Professor Chavez the foreign language that they wanted to sign up for.

On Monday, September 2nd, school officially started. Schedules were handed out at breakfast and Harry looked over his. He had Charms, History of Magic, and Herbology on Mondays and Wednesdays, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Potions on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Astronomy on Tuesday nights, and World Culture and his selected foreign language, which was French, on Fridays. As he was familiar with both the wizarding and Muggle worlds, he didn't have to take either Muggle or Wizarding Culture, and therefore had that time as a study period.

When he compared schedules with his friends, it became clear that they all had the exact same schedules, other than their selected foreign language and Hermione, Dean, and Anthony having to take Wizarding Culture and Mikhail and Leilani having to take Muggle Culture. "Well, that's convenient," Draco said. "We'll be learning everything at the same time."

At a quarter to nine, the bell rang, reminding students that they had fifteen minutes before the school day started. "We'd better get going," Arista said, taking a quick wipe of her mouth with a napkin and grabbing her school bag. "We don't want to be late for Charms."

The sixteen of them filed out the dining hall and went up to the third floor where the Charms classrooms were. In the Charms corridor, they found the door labeled "Charms, Year One", and entered the room. The rest of their classmates came in as they found seats.

A couple of minutes later, Professor Mills came out of her office, which was next door, and went to the chalkboard, where she proceeded to write her name and the course aims for the year. Once the bell rang, signifying the start of class, she set down the chalk and turned to face the class.

"G'day everyone," she said with a smile, her Australian accent rather noticeable. "As I'm sure you remember, I'm Professor Mills. To start, I'll be taking roll." After attendance had been taken, she went over the course aims, and then said, "Now, before we actually start learning any spells, we are going to be going over the theory a bit. First off, what exactly is a charm, and how would it be different from other types of spells?"

Hermione immediately raised her hand. Professor Mills nodded at her, and she said, "A charm is a spell that adds a certain property to an object or creature. For example, a Color-Changing Charm would change the color of something, and a Levitation Charm would make an object levitate. Charms focus on adding or changing a property, whereas transfiguration focuses on changing the object or creature entirely, and jinxes, hexes, and curses are spells linked to Dark magic and produce negative effects, with curses being the strongest and jinxes being the most minor. There's also counter-spells-"

"Excuse me, Miss Granger," Professor Mills interrupted. "What you've said so far is absolutely correct, but would you mind pausing for a bit so I can put what you said on the board and have everyone copy it down?" Once everyone had taken notes, she continued, "I see that you read through at least the first part of your Charms text and retained the information, Miss Granger. Did you do this with all your textbooks?"

"Yes, I did, Professor Mills," Hermione replied. "I wanted to be well-prepared for class."

"Very good. Now, let's give someone else the chance to answer, all right? Now, Miss Granger was going to briefly go over the remaining two spell types so that we could see how they differ from Charms. Does anyone else know what they are?"

Eileen, Kalea, Draco, and Tewodros Conteh raised their hands. Kalea was called upon, and she said, "Counter-spells are a type of spell that are meant to block, remove, or negate the affects of another spell. _Finite Incantem_ is a general, all-purpose counter-spell that ends the effects of most spells. The last spell type are healing spells, and as their name suggests, they are spells used to heal or fix people or creatures."

"Very good, Miss Allen," said Professor Mills, magically writing what Kalea said on the board. She gave the class a couple of minutes to copy it down, then said, "If you turn to chapter one of _A Standard Book of Spells, Grade One_, you will find the first charm that we will be learning for the year, which is a simple Color-Changing Charm. The incantation is '_Colovaria_'. Please practice saying it a couple of times, without your wands."

The class did so, and then Professor Mills had Draco and Eileen hand out blue ribbons to everyone. "You are going to practice the Color-Changing Charms on these ribbons. If you are successful, the ribbon will change from blue to another color." She demonstrated on a scarf, turning it from red to violet.

Hermione was the first student to successfully master the charm, turning her ribbon to a brilliant scarlet on her fifth try. She then turned it to a deep emerald color, followed by a bright sunny yellow and a pale pink color. "Excellent, Miss Granger," said Professor Mills, smiling. "Both in your spell work and in the grade that you've achieved for today's work. You certainly seem to have some talent for Charms." She went to her desk and picked up a jar of fruit drops resting there. "What flavor of fruit drop would you like? I have strawberry, cherry, lemon, orange, and pear." Hermione chose a strawberry one.

June and Frank were the next students to master the spell, with the former turning her ribbon white and the latter turning his ribbon a dark red. Professor Mills praised their spell-work and gave them a fruit drop each as well. By the time class ended, everyone had managed to make some difference to the color of their ribbons, though in Mikhail's and Ron's case, they had only changed the color to a different shade of blue (from sapphire blue to sky blue), and in Joseph Hinkley's and Leilani's case, only half their ribbons had changed color.

"For homework, read the first chapter in the Charms textbook, and those that didn't fully master the charm, please practice it," said Professor Mills. "Class is dismissed."

Everyone gathered up their things and headed for their next class. Harry's group of friends went down to the second floor where the History of Magic classrooms were. At half past ten, class started, and Professor Park-Davis, a Korean woman of about seventy, greeted the class and took roll call. When she was done, she had them turn to chapter one of _A Look at Magical History of Africa_. The chapter dealt with ancient Egypt, where the oldest known records of witches and wizards came from. Harry had already learned some things about ancient Egypt back in fifth grade, though that had focused more on their history in general and not magical history, and the class had to read the Muggle book _The Egypt Game_, which was about a group of kids who had a fascination with ancient Egypt and would role-play living in that era.

"As you can see, many of the priests and priestesses of the Egyptian gods and goddesses, such as Bastet, Osiris, Isis, and Horus, were magical, and so were many of the advisers to the pharaohs. In fact, it's believed that the advisers serving the pharaoh mentioned in the story of Moses that's recorded in the Bible and Torah are actually wizards, using their magic to duplicate the feats that Moses and his brother Aaron did with God's help."

Professor Park-Davis continued going over the chapter, with the class taking notes, and answered any questions the students had. For homework she had the class review their notes and the chapter, saying that she would be asking them a few questions the next class to make sure they had retained the information. With that, at ten minutes to noon, class was dismissed, and everyone gathered their things and went down to lunch.

"We're allowed to eat lunch out in the courtyard, as long as the weather's nice," Eileen said. "Do you guys want to do that?" The others agreed, so they packed up some sandwiches, fruit, cookies, and bottles of juice in a couple of baskets and went out to the courtyard. They settled underneath a large oak tree and began eating, talking about the two classes they had so far.

"Hey, Hermione, since you got the Color-Changing Charm so quickly, do you mind helping me master it when I practice tonight?" Mikhail asked.

"Of course not," answered Hermione with a smile.

"Thanks," said Mikhail, returning the smile. "If you want, I could quiz you on the history chapter in return."

"That'd be wonderful, Mikhail. Weren't the ancient Egyptian wizards fascinating? I never suspected that many of the priests and priestesses were magical."

"My oldest brother, Bill, works in Egypt as a curse-breaker for Gringotts bank," Ron said. "He's written the family about the magical tombs he's worked in, plus the magical parts of other tombs that are hidden from Muggles. My parents are saving money so that we can visit him in Egypt over one of the summer holidays."

"That's cool," said Harry. "I wish I could go to Egypt. Why couldn't any of my parents' friends have been from there? Then I'd have an excuse to visit."

"Hey, look on the bright side, Harry," Eileen said. "We got to visit Saudi Arabia and Japan, at least." For the benefit of the others that hadn't been friends of them before, she added, "Our Aunt Amina is from Saudi Arabia, and our Aunt Yuki has family in Japan."

When the bell rang, warning everyone that there was ten minutes until one o'clock, the start of the next class, the group hastily packed up the remains of their lunch. Ron, Draco, and Arista dropped off the baskets in the dining hall and joined the rest of their Herbology class in Greenhouse One. It was the largest of the five school greenhouses, since it grew the vegetables and cooking herbs and spices used by the school kitchens.

When the bell rang, signifying the start of class, the teacher said, "Good afternoon, class. I am your instructor, Professor Boledenka." He took attendance, then continued, "Since most of you have little to no experience working with plants, other than perhaps helping your parents weed a garden, it is school policy to not have you start on magical plants, a number of which can be dangerous or require delicate handling. Therefore, you will start out with working with the purely mundane plants in here to gain experience. To begin, we will identify the various fruits and vegetables growing here."

Draco raised a hand. "But there are no fruits growing here, Professor Boledenka, other than the tomatoes."

"Botanically, there are certain plants, such as cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, and squash, that are fruits, but are classified as vegetables in culinary use," Professor Boledenka explained. "Their seeds are encased by the flesh of the plant part you eat. Normally we just refer to the sweet-tasting ones as fruit and the savory or less sweet ones as vegetables."

Most of the vegetables were easily identified by the entire class, but a few that were primarily used in Asian cooking were harder to identify. Frank and Eileen were the only ones that could identify them all, as they had eaten those vegetables before. After that, the class did some watering and weeding, and harvested enough vegetables to fill two bushel baskets, which were sent to the kitchens to be used for dinner.

At a quarter past two, class ended, and everyone washed up. Harry's group of friends headed for the library, where Hermione and Anthony immediately rushed over to the bookcases and started browsing. After fifteen minutes of this, Harry interrupted them. "Would you two mind exploring the library later? I wanted to talk over some things with you guys, and get some practice on the Color-Changing Charm."

Hermione and Anthony reluctantly pulled themselves away and the group went upstairs to where the study rooms were. They settled down in one of them, and Arista said, "The sixteen of us are well on our way to becoming a close-knit group of friends. So I thought perhaps we should come up some sort of name to call ourselves, like how my parents and their friends called themselves the Phoenix Club."

"The Phoenix Club?" asked Dean. "That's an interesting choice of name. Why did they pick it?"

Harry shrugged. "That was the only name they all agreed on. Also, most of them aren't really great at coming with group names. Well, Uncle Sirius and my dad did suggest the Marauders, but my mum and Aunt Yuki pointed out that they weren't pirates or raiders. Aunt Katya finally suggested that they name themselves after a magical creature, and said that phoenixes symbolized rebirth, so they went with that."

"We could just call our group the Phoenix Club rather than try to come up with a name," Leilani suggested. "I'm not very good at coming up with club names, and you could say that we're a rebirth of your parents' group, Harry."

"Why can't we just use a different magical creature, like a dragon?" asked Draco. "The Dragon Club sounds nice."

Several of the others laughed. "We're not naming the club after you, Draco," Ron said. "No matter how much we like you."

"I was joking," said Draco with a grin. "I'm not that big-headed or, what's the word, egocentric. The Phoenix Club sounds fine. All for it?"

All sixteen friends agreed, and so Stella took out a piece of parchment. "Which one of us is good at drawing?" she asked.

Dean raised his hand. "I took some art lessons, and the art teacher at my primary school said I was really good at it."

"All right then. Dean, would you please draw a phoenix on top, and write our group name underneath it?" Stella took out her copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ and flipped to the section on phoenixes. "Here's a picture so you know what a phoenix looks like."

Dean took out his colored pencils from his school bag and proceeded to draw a phoenix in flight on the top of the parchment. Underneath that he wrote "Phoenix Club" in block letters and then handed the parchment back to Stella, who asked. "Who has the best handwriting?"

After a minute of comparing, it was decided that Veronica had the best handwriting. She was appointed to write down two relatively short paragraphs, which said that the Phoenix Club had decided to form up and would be friends for life, with a summary on how they would behave towards each other.

"Anything else?" Veronica asked. The others shook their heads, so she said, "Then we can all sign this vow of friendship." She signed her name first and then passed the parchment and her pen to Neville.

Once everyone had signed their name, Neville took a good look at the phoenix Dean had drawn. "You're really good at art, Dean. The phoenix looks almost realistic."

"Thanks," said Dean, looking slightly embarrassed by the compliment. "My art teacher said I should attend an art school, but my parents couldn't afford to send me there, only for some lessons, and anyway, the acceptance letter from Nightwind School changed things for me."

"You know, there's an Art Club," Eileen said. "You should join that and exercise your talent. Also, if you do plan on making a career out of it, in sixth and seventh-year you can take a class on wizarding art. Professor Hertz runs both, and Aunt Nicole and Uncle Kurt help out, since art is their hobby."

"Aunt Nicole is good enough at painting that she could have made a career as a wizarding painter instead of becoming a Healer," Arista added. "She painted pictures, many of them of the original Phoenix Club, and gave them to her friends on their birthdays back in her school days. Uncle Kurt is good at sketching and drawing, but as you know, he felt his calling was to be a rabbi rather than an artist."

"What exactly is the difference between Muggle and wizarding art?" Dean asked.

"You know how wizarding photos move, because the film gets developed in a potion that allows that?" Veronica asked. "It's similar with wizarding paintings. There's spells that you can do to make a painting move, and magicked brushes and paints. Also, if you're painting a person, you can, um, imbue it with the person's personality. That allows the painted person to talk and act more-or-less like him or herself when they were alive."

"Also, if a person has more than one portrait, they can travel between the portraits," Leilani added. "They can also travel to other paintings in the same building as them, but they can't go to another building unless they have another portrait there. Headmistress Nakamura's office has portraits of all the previous Heads, and I read that they give her advice and stuff. Once she retires or dies, her portrait will join the rest and do the same with her replacement."

After that, Dean went back to the library to find some books on wizarding art, and Anthony went with him. Joseph tapped on the door. "Hermione, do you mind helping me with the Color-Changing Charm? Tewodros isn't that great at Charms, and our two roommates don't have the class until tomorrow."

"I don't mind," Hermione said. "I told Mikhail, Ron, and Leilani that I'd help them, so you can join us."

"Thanks, Hermione," said Joseph, looking relieved. He set down the green scarf he was holding on the table and took his wand out from his pocket. The three others that hadn't fully mastered the charm took out their wands and a small item they were going to practice on, and under Hermione's watchful eye, practiced the spell.

By dinnertime, Joseph and Leilani could fully change the color of their scarves, instead of only changing it halfway, and Ron and Mikhail could turn the covers of their notebooks to various colors and not just a different shade of the original color. "You're wonderful, Hermione," Joseph said gratefully. "You should sign up as a Charms tutor for the study group that I hear the school has, if that's what you want to do. Do you mind if I come to you if I need help with Charms in the future? I could help you with History of Magic in return. I like history, and I'm good at remembering historical facts and stuff."

"I don't exactly need help in history, but if you want to quiz me on the subject before tests so that I can make sure I know everything, that would be fine." Hermione answered. "And I don't mind tutoring you in Charms, Joseph." After all, she could see that he wasn't simply trying to use her for homework help, unlike her classmates back in primary school, and he had offered to return the favor by helping her in another subject.

The next day, after breakfast, the new Phoenix Club went to Transfiguration, taught by Professor Chavez. After taking roll call, she went over the course aims and the first chapter of _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_, which explained the subject, with the class taking notes. After that, she had Veronica and another boy named Justin Finch-Fletchley hand out matches to the class. Professor Chavez demonstrated how to turn it into a needle, and had the class attempt to do the same.

Again, Hermione was the first person to actually succeed, with her managing to turn her match silvery on the first try and fully turning it into a needle on her fourth attempt. Professor Chavez, looking pleased, said, "Excellent work, Miss Granger." She showed the class how well Hermione had done, gave her a Chocolate Frog as a reward, and asked her to see if she could turn the needle back into a match.

When class ended, only Kalea, Mikhail, and Justin had managed to turn their matches into needles, and Kalea and Hermione could also turn their needles back into matches. Neville, Harry, and a girl named Gianna de Wit hadn't made any change to their matches at all, while the rest of the class had made some small changes, such as turning theirs silvery or (in June's case) into a wooden needle, which looked like a toothpick with the eye of a needle at one end. For homework, Professor Chavez had the ones that hadn't succeeded to read up on the theory.

After that was Defense Against the Dark Arts, taught by Professor Amper. She greeted the class, took attendance, and went over the course aims. That was followed by having the class turn to chapter one of _An Introduction to Magical Self-Defense_ and going over the differences between jinxes, hexes, and curses. The students took copious notes, and were told to review them and the chapter for homework.

Unfortunately, a light drizzle started at the end of Defense class, so nobody could eat lunch outside. When lunch ended, the Phoenix Club went up to the fifth and top floor, where the Potions classrooms were. Professor van Herten took roll call and then gave the class a strict talking to, warning them about the dangers of potions, and making it clear that he would not tolerate any sort of misbehavior in his class. When he finished with the lecture, he demonstrated how to prepare certain ingredients, showing the difference between dicing, mincing, and chopping. Finally, he wrote the instructions for brewing a simple cure for boils on the chalkboard and had the class pair up and work on the potion.

As the class worked, Professor van Herten walked around and checked everyone's work, praising them if they did something correctly and correcting them if they should make an error. Harry, who had partnered with June, produced a perfect potion. Professor van Herten complimented on their work, and even told Harry, "You seem to have inherited some of your parents' talent with Potions, Mr. Potter. They did well in my class."

However, Neville and Eileen had a mishap with their potion. Apparently Neville hadn't read one of the instructions carefully enough, for Eileen suddenly exclaimed, "Wait! You're supposed to take the cauldron off the fire first!" Unfortunately, she was too late, for just as she finished speaking, there was a minor explosion and Eileen's cauldron collapsed, drenching Neville in the unfinished potion and filling the room with clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing. As the potion seeped across the floor, the rest of the class scrambled to stand on their stools, while poor Neville moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.

"Calm down, class," said Professor van Herten, sweeping over from where he had been inspecting Hermione and Kalea's potion. He vanished the spilled potion away with a wave of his wand, and then grabbed the sample of finished potion he had shown the class from off his desk and had Neville drink it. As the boils faded somewhat, the teacher crossed over to the fireplace and Firecalled Healer Nightwind-Prince, who Flooed over a minute later.

"What happened exactly, Miss Prince?" Professor van Herten asked. "Did Mr. Longbottom accidentally add the porcupine quills too early?"

Eileen nodded. "He was going to add the quills before I took the cauldron off the fire first. I tried to stop him, but he dropped the quills in as I was speaking."

"I thought so." Professor van Herten waited until the Healer finished with the healing, then said, "Mr. Longbottom, in the future, please read the directions more carefully so something like this doesn't happen again, all right? You and Miss Prince can restart the potion, and be more careful this time."

Since Eileen and Neville had to restart the potion, they ended up having to stay an extra half hour in order to finish it. This time, however, there were no other mishaps, and their Cure for Boils Potion turned out perfect.

At nine o'clock that evening was Astronomy, with Professor Larsen. She made the joke that perhaps she was destined to have a career in Astronomy, since her first name, Astrid, meant 'star' in Scandanavia. After that, she had everyone set up their telescopes and pointed out various constellations, with the students noting them down on their star charts.

Author's Note: I am aware that there is more to _The Egypt Game_ besides the whole 'group of kids decide to role-play being in Ancient Egypt'. I had to read the book in elementary school when we were learning about Ancient Egypt. However, there is no need for me to go into the finer details of the book, especially when it's just Harry recalling that he read the book in primary school. Since this is an AU, Neville isn't as abysmal in Potions as he is the books, (especially when he doesn't have strict Potions teachers that scare him) but that doesn't mean he won't make the occasional mistake, such as not reading instructions carefully enough.


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note: I apologize for not updating this in over a year. I was too focused on the other fics I was writing and didn't come up with anything for this one.

On Friday, the first class of the day was World Culture. All the religious staff was there, plus the Buddhist nun and monk and the Shinto priest from the shared temple for the main Asian religions (besides Hinduism) in Windmere. They all took turns giving an overview of the various religions practiced worldwide, and Reverend van Herten and Father Vasquez said that they would return next to week to further explain Christianity and the various sects in it. After that was the Muggle and Wizarding Culture classes. Harry and his group of friends from primary school had that time as a study period, as they were familiar with both worlds, and Frank, Veronica, and Kalea joined them.

At lunchtime, Mikhail and Leilani said that the Muggle Culture class was boring, since their parents had already given them an overview of the Muggle world and they could probably blend in among the Muggles in their respective countries without problem. "Well, if you two already know that stuff, then why don't you tell the teacher and ask to be in the study period with us?" Eileen suggested. "You'll probably have to take a small test to show that you're not lying, but that's all."

"Then we'll do that," said Mikhail. He and Leilani got up and went to speak to Professor Freeman, who was teaching the Muggle Culture class, at the staff table.

After lunch, Harry, Hermione, June, Ron, Neville, Draco, and Arista headed for their French class, while Kalea, Anthony, and Frank went to Spanish class, Dean and Veronica to German class, and Leilani, Eileen, Mikhail, and Stella had Japanese class. Professor Lavelle, who was also the fourth-year Herbology teacher, taught the French class.

When class started, Professor Lavelle greeted the class, took attendance, and then wrote a list of vocabulary on the chalkboard. "I would like you all to each copy down what I've written on the board. I will then go over each word or phrase one-by-one. You are to write down the English translation that I will give you." Once everyone had written down the list, she began with the first one. "_Bonjour_. That means 'hello', or literally, 'good-day.'. Once the class had written down the translation, she had them practice saying 'Bonjour' a few times, and then moved on to the next one, '_Salut'_, which was the more informal 'hello'.

Professor Lavelle went over the formal and informal terms of asking 'How are you?', the various ways to reply to that question and ask 'And you?' in return, how to say 'My name is", and finished up with the days of the week and months and how to count to twenty in French. The rest of class was devoted to practicing what they'd learned by having them all pair up and taking turns with greeting each other, introducing themselves, and asking how they were and responding to the questions.

Harry was assigned to be partnered with a girl named Natalie Wilcox, whom he remembered from the meet-and-greet session had said that she was a Muggleborn witch from the United States. Natalie appeared to be quite enthusiastic about the whole practice session. When the two of them finished, she revealed that a year ago, she had read this book titled _The Avion My Uncle Flew_, in which the main character spent the summer (right after World War Two) with his uncle in the French village that his mother and the uncle had grown up in and as a result learned quite a bit of French. (Not enough to be fluent, but certainly enough to get by). Since all the French the main character learned was included in the book, anyone reading the book would learn some French as a result (at least in reading it). Natalie had chosen French as her foreign language purely because she wanted to learn how to pronounce the French words, and the fact that Nightwind School had a mandatory foreign language class was a big reason why she had chosen to attend it over Ilvermorny.

"That is quite interesting," said Professor Lavelle. "I shall look into it and have one of the American alumni of the school buy copies of this book and send them to me. Once our class has gotten further ahead with learning French, I shall assign it as reading material. Since you have already read the book, Natalie, you will be assigned something else to read. And I will definitely assign it to my second and third year classes to read once I've gotten the copies."

The following week flying classes were introduced after the other classes were done for the day. Harry and his friends were assigned to the Monday class, which was taught by Professor Misako Sato (a Japanese witch that had been appointed the flying instructor ten years ago, since before that, the class was taught by a rotating group from those staff members that were really good at flying). She revealed that she had once played Chaser for the Toyohashi Tengu, a Japanese Quidditch team, before retiring to take up the post of flying instructor and Quidditch referee at her alma mater. After determining who had flown before and who hadn't, she instructed those that flown before (after making sure that they knew how to grip their brooms properly and mount) to fly around the Quidditch pitch for five laps, going no higher than fifty feet into the air or flying too fast. She then turned her attention to those new to flying and instructed them in taking off and having them hover a few feet in the air. When Natalie confessed to having a fear of heights, Professor Sato had her return to the ground and excused her from flying lessons.

On Friday, Quidditch trials were held. The Ruby team needed a new Seeker, the Emerald team needed a new Chaser and a reserve Seeker, and the Diamond team needed a new Keeper. Harry and Draco tried out and the only other first-year to do so was a girl named Josefina Delacroix. Harry and Draco proved to be the best out of those trying out for Seeker, with the former being slightly better, and the Ruby and Emerald captains had something of an argument over which team would get whom. Finally the Ruby captain, Oliver Wood, pointed out that the Emerald team had Viktor Krum as their Seeker, who was so good that Quidditch teams from Krum's native Bulgaria were already scouting him out to become a professional player, even though he was only a fourth year. The Emerald captain, Adelheid Chekov, conceded that Oliver had a point and so the Ruby team got Harry as the Seeker while Draco became the reserve Seeker for the Emerald team.

The other two slots were easily filled, with third year Johann Munez being named Chaser and fourth year Lisa Chung being named Keeper. Harry was then introduced to his new teammates (with the exception of the Fred and George Weasley, the Beaters, since he already knew them). Oliver Wood was the captain and Keeper and the three Chasers were Angelina Johnson, Kayla Bjornsen, and Vivienne Rashid. Oliver was a fifth-year, Angelina a third-year, and Kayla and Vivienne were both fourth-years.

The second Phoenix Club spent most of the weekend (as it was either cloudy or raining) in one of the rec rooms. By this point, they were all close friends, and worked well together. Overall, Hermione was the best student out of all of them (and of the first-years), though there were some slight exceptions in certain subjects. While she and Neville were on par when it came to the theoretical knowledge, he was better than her when it came to actually tending plants. The same applied in Potions for her and Eileen, with the latter slightly better at her in brewing Potions, but equal at the theory. Harry was slightly better than Hermione at casting Defensive spells, and Kalea more-or-less her equal at Transfiguration. Charms and Astronomy were the only subjects that Hermione did better than anyone else in both the practical and theoretical portions.

On Monday, the first-years turned in their choices for extracurricular activities. Predictably, Anthony and Hermione had decided to join the Book Club and so did Leilani and Frank. Dean signed up for the Art Club as well as being part of the set designers for the Drama Society, Ron and Mikhail for the Chess Club, Eileen for the Potions Club, and Neville for the Herbology Club. June and Veronica auditioned for the school choir and were accepted, and Arista and Stella signed up for the school newsletter, _Nightwind News_. Harry and Draco naturally had Quidditch, but the latter also chose to join the the school newsletter.


End file.
